The Impromptu Mastermind Group: How a Fishing Expedition Became a Problem-Solving Lesson for Amazon Sellers

Gone Fishing

Every summer, when the salmon are returning to spawn in the local rivers, some friends and I set aside a day away from the office to go fishing. We just finished this year’s trip, and it was very successful. We caught our limit of Coho salmon by 10 o’clock. To top it off, we hauled in three crab traps set the night before, with six large Dungeness inside! Fresh crab and salmon for dinner? It doesn’t get much better, and it all happened on the edge of Seattle, the bustling tech center and home to Microsoft and Amazon.

We launched the boat from Shilshole Marina at 7a.m., and we were fishing a few minutes later. In the boat with me were friends and colleagues in business:

James Thomson: PhD in marketing, former Amazon executive who helped launch Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) and co-founder of The Prosper Show for Amazon sellers. James is also co-owner of Buy Box Experts. https://www.buyboxexperts.com/

Jason Boyce: Co-founder of Dazadi, an 8-figure Amazon business, and founder of Ave 7 Media, a Products Marketing Agency that helps people sell products on Amazon. Jason started selling in the fledgling days of the Amazon marketplace. https://www.avenue7media.com/

Jerry Kavesh: Entreprenuer, Amazon seller, and founder/owner of Silver Canyon Boot & Clothing company. https://silvercanyonboots.com/

Fishing Masterminds

Looking around the boat, I said to myself, “Holy Mackerel,” what better time for an impromptu mastermind group?! (So much for leaving work behind!). For those who don’t know, the concept of the mastermind group was first introduced by author Napoleon Hill, best known for his book Think and Grow Rich (1937). Mastermind groups have been around since the beginning of time. Even Benjamin Franklin belonged to one he called a “Junto.” Hill reasoned that when people with different experiences come together in a structured, repeatable environment, they are more likely to attain their individual goals. Belonging to a formal mastermind group can be advantageous, but expensive, running as much as $25,000 a year or more!

Sitting in that fishing boat together, in the early morning glow, the analogy of a mastermind group struck me. Here we were, each of us with deep experience selling on Amazon, brought together by something completely different. What a perfect opportunity to brainstorm and problem-solve—together! Following are some of the lessons that came out of our informal conversation:

4 Lessons for Amazon Sellers

1 – You MUST be on Amazon!

There is an old saying in marketing, “fish where the fish are,” meaning find where your customers are, then market to them. You can have the best offer in the world, but if no one sees it, you won’t get sales. It’s one of the reasons our group hires a fishing guide. He’s got the expertise to take us to where the fish are so we can catch them. Following are some startling statistics that Jason shared with our group:

• According to CNBC and eMarketer a full 50% of all online sales come from Amazon.
• Greater than 55% of product searches begin on Amazon compared to just 30% on Google.
• If you compare sales in terms of Gross Merchandise Value(GMV), Amazon is very close to catching Walmart (Amazon just surpassed Walmart as the World’s Largest Retailer, May 15, 2019).
• Amazon has more than 100 Million Prime subscribers who will always look to Amazon first when buying a product.
• Links to Amazon product listings are not just on Amazon. You can find them on Google, Bing, CSEs, and content sites. The top ranked products on Amazon get paid ads on all of these channels.

If you want to increase your product sales, you need to fish where the fish are, and if you don’t currently have an Amazon strategy, you better develop one! For suggestions on how to navigate the Amazon waters, email Jason at Avenue7Media.

2 – Build your Brand

Finding the fish is only the first step. But you need the right lures and bait in your tackle box to get the fish to bite. Good product branding is the lure that is impossible to resist. Today there are more than 550 million products listed on Amazon.com, most of which don’t have any significant branding. They are just “me too” products, which means their fight for the Buy Box is to lower prices. This unavoidably becomes a race to the bottom. Avoid the fight against the other bottom feeders!

5 Tips for New Sellers

1. Differentiate your product. If you are going to be priced higher than other Amazon sellers, you need to stand out from the crowd. This can be done through product design and messaging.
2. Get trademarked. If you don’t have one, get one. With a registered trademark you can set up an Amazon Brand Page, where you can share your authentic story and build a loyal customer base.
3. Create an Amazon Brand Page. This is like a mini-website that allows you to offer more information than just the regular Amazon listing. Importantly, the brand page allows you to incorporate video—a proven way to increase your sales and conversions!
4. Post great product images. This is critical. Think of looking at a product through a dirty display window. It won’t reflect well on your product (or your brand)! Good images will sell more.
5. Focus on benefits. Features tell, benefits sell. Move your customer to action by showing them how your product will enhance their quality of life.

You’d be surprised by how many sellers miss these elementary steps! To find out more about building a successful brand you can order my book, Building Billion Dollar Brands! Or send me an email. I’d love to hear from you!

3 – Create more off-Amazon Revenue

There is an old saying, “Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” This is how many Amazon Sellers feel about the retail behemoth because Amazon’s focus is not about them. Instead, Amazon’s customer-centric model is 100% about delivering the best value to its customers—at the seller’s expense. The consensus on the fishing boat was that Amazon Sellers would migrate to another platform in a heartbeat. If only there was one.

Tips for increasing your off-Amazon revenue:

• Build an eCommerce website. Shopify is a software service many Amazon sellers like, including our mastermind group. Your website should be the origin of your product branding activity, and it should include your backstory plus more in-depth information about your product line. And don’t forget the testimonials! Quality photos and video, along with social media and PR and paid ads will drive traffic to your site and increase your off-Amazon sales (which, in turn, will boost your sales on Amazon).
• Develop your customer data-base. When you make a sale on Amazon, all of the customer data and contact information stays with them. You need to develop your own customer database and establish a good relationship with your customer base through email marketing. The larger your customer database, the more valuable your business will be if you decide to sell it.
• Incorporate email marketing. People think email marketing doesn’t work anymore. In fact it is a powerful way to build your database and increase sales. Offer an opt-in through social media advertising and/or podcasts to capture peoples email addresses.

4 – Become a Third-Party Seller, if you aren’t already

Back when Jason started selling on Amazon in 2003, the majority of businesses sold to Amazon (first-party sellers), just like the traditional wholesale/distributor relationship. The downside here is that you have zero price control or Minimum Advertised Price (MAP) integrity. People believe because Amazon is buying your product, they’ll do a better job promoting it. That is rarely the case.

Today, more than half of all products sold on Amazon are sold by third-party sellers (3P). There are numerous advantages here, including control of your product listing, for starters, which means better price control, better margins, access to more analytics, and inventory control.

Our mastermind group unanimously agree that selling through a 3P account is the best way to get started on Amazon. Here’s a warning, too, about a future move by Amazon that could affect 1P sellers:

Warning: Amazon is considering the elimination of 1P seller accounts for sellers generating under $10 Million annually. Don’t get caught with a leak in your boat and no life jackets on board!

At the end of the day

I’ve already employed some of the lessons from our fishing trip, and I hope you can, too! I also hope you can make some time to do what you love most, with people you really care about. If you like to fish, like I do, then you know how good fresh-caught salmon tastes—especially when you catch it!

Let me know if you are successful applying some of these tips from the Fishing Mastermind Group! I’d love to know, and I’ll pass on your experience when I see these guys again at the Shilshole Bay Marina next summer.

Originally published on Rick Cesari

Rick Cesari has been in the direct response and video marketing industry since 1994 and consulting since 1999. His passion is continuing that work and speaking to organizations to share that breadth of knowledge. You can follow his updates on RickCesari.com.