How to Scale Your Amazon Business in the Next 12 Months – In Just 7 Minutes with Will Haire

Check out episode
  • Discover why having your own branding can be advantageous in the Amazon platform
  • Learn more on how to navigate around Amazon to maximize your seller and customer experience
  • Find out how Amazon has its own ecosystem and how you can get behind it to maximize your profit from the platform

Resources/Links:

  • Wanting to Put Your Business up in Amazon and Maximize the Amazon Platform? Learn more about the power of Amazon and the money-making secrets that will guarantee you a great profit in the world’s largest marketplace: https://www.bellavix.com/

Summary

Have you been wanting to venture your business out into Amazon, the world’s biggest marketplace?

Are you feeling overwhelmed and pressured with all the different products, businesses, and brands in Amazon?

Do you want to know how you can make a name in the Amazon marketplace, maximize your seller experience and make the most out of the platform?

Will Haire runs a full-service Amazon agency, BellaVix. He has worked with eCommerce businesses in the planning and tactical execution of marketing strategies on all Amazon business segments.

In this episode, Will shares his insights on what makes a business boom and stand out in the world’s biggest marketplace, Amazon. He also talks about what are the things you should avoid when venturing into Amazon for both a better seller and customer experience.

Check out these episode highlights:

  • 01:14 – Will’s ideal client: “The ideal clients are CMOS and eCommerce brands who are struggling to reach scale on the Amazon marketplace.”
  • 01:55 – Problem Will help solve: “The problem we solve is Amazon is its own ecosystem. And it can get very complicated for brands to kind of navigate, especially if you’re in retail.”
  • 03:03- Typical symptoms that clients do before reaching out to Will: “If you’re a brand on Amazon, and you’re not aware of what it looks like, you should search your products. And if you see sellers you’ve never heard of with listings, with all different types of quality, the symptoms are obvious that it’s a poor brand experience.”
  • 04:07 – Common mistakes that people make before they find Will’s solution: “Not caring is, I think, the biggest. It’s just like, “Whatever. We sell to wholesalers.” We actually get that much pushback. “Why should I care? One way or another, I’m going to get the sale from the manufacturer.”
  • 04:57 – Will’s Valuable Free Action (VFA): “The easiest thing, if you’re not, is to get your brand registered. You can use the IP accelerator and have a trademark with all the features on Amazon in three to four weeks.”
  • 05:31 – Will’s Valuable Free Resource (VFR): Check out Will’s Website: https://www.bellavix.com/
  • 06:08 – Q: What’s the best type of product to sell on Amazon? A: I like to say that it’s not a product, actually, it’s a brand. Amazon has differentiated itself from other marketplaces and that brands really excel.

Tweetable Takeaways from this Episode:

“Amazon has differentiated itself from other marketplaces and that brands really excel. So a lot of my job is driving brand awareness to drive sales.” -Will Haire Click To Tweet

Transcript
(Note, this was transcribed using a transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast)

Tom Poland 00:10
Greetings, everyone, and a warm welcome to another edition of Marketing the Invisible. My name is Tom Poland, joined today by Will Haire. Will, good day from Down Under. Welcome, sir! Where are you hanging out?

Will Haire 00:21
I’m hanging out in Raleigh, North Carolina. Here on the East Coast of the United States.

Tom Poland 00:25
And where it’s 4:30 just gone 6:30 am here the next day. Last night was great, by the way. Will, you’re going to love it. For those of you who don’t know Will, he runs a full-service Amazon agency, 15 employees. They are on LinkedIn if you check them out. It’s BellaVix. B-E-L-L-A V-I-X, vixen. Haha. He’s worked with eCommerce businesses in the planning and tactical execution of marketing strategies on all Amazon business segments, of which there are quite a few. So, Will, thanks so much for rocking up. Our seven minutes is going to start just after the title, which is, “How to Scale Your Amazon Business in the Next 12 Months”. Will’s going to tell us how to do that in just seven minutes. Will, our seven minutes does start now indeed. Question number one, sir, who is your ideal client?

Will Haire 01:14
So the ideal clients are CMOS and eCommerce brands who are struggling to reach scale on the Amazon marketplace. And you know, what that might look like is somebody who is looking for a cohesive brand experience across multiple eCommerce channels, ensuring that policies are being implemented and ensuring that you’re implementing the right marketing and advertising strategies to hit scale and to hit mass scale on Amazon.

Tom Poland 01:40
So it sounds like we’re hitting scale right across the Amazon board, so to speak. We’re doing it in a way that’s compliant, and that, therefore, they’re sustainable and we’re maxing the potential of multi-channels. Cool! So tell us a little bit about the problem you solve?

Will Haire 01:55
Yeah, so the problem we solve is that Amazon is its own ecosystem. And it can get very complicated for brands to kind of navigate, especially if you’re in retail. So you’ll notice that you get a lot of map violators, a lot of third-party sellers. And in the cosmetic space, especially, you get a lot of counterfeit products. And those counterfeit products can be not only damaging to the brand and affect your customers, but they can physically cause damage to people. I’m sure everybody has seen or heard stories of just getting some terrible products on Amazon to find out that it’s counterfeit from somewhere else. So these are all the issues that the brands need to be aware of, and an agency like BellaVix, we come in and we manage that experience and make sure it’s cohesive and make sure we’re compliant with all of Amazon’s policies, and we’re doing everything we can to make sure that we’re scaling. That’s a big thing that we bring to the table.

Tom Poland 02:48
Scalability. Thank you. And so question number three, we got five and a half minutes left. Give us some of the typical symptoms that a business is going to be experiencing before they find the BellaVix solution. What’s going on in the business that they think, “My gosh, I gotta find out more about this”?

Will Haire 03:03
Beautiful! So if you’re a brand on Amazon, and you’re not aware of what it looks like, you should search your products. And if you see sellers you’ve never heard of with listings, with all different types of quality, the symptoms are obvious that it’s a poor brand experience. But for those of you who are on Amazon and trying to figure out “How do I scale?”, “Why are we having all these issues?”. Some of the symptoms are just low sales, in general. A lot of what we do is tied to sales, a lot of the value we bring. And if you’re a vendor-central client, that would be not getting purchase orders. But listing suppression, poor voice, the customer- poor account health, listing quality, SEO, high advertising, cost of sale. Like these are all different KPIs we’re looking at to kind of help you solve your problems. But the symptoms are all tied to just poor quality scores. And at the end of the day, a poor user experience or customer experience through the platform.

Tom Poland 03:54
Right! Well articulated, sir. There’s a lot to that.

Will Haire 03:56
Yeah!

Tom Poland 03:57
So let’s go to question four, four minutes left. Question four, common mistakes that retailers and vendors are making out there that you see that it’s just going to sabotage their efforts?

Will Haire 04:07
Not caring is, I think, the biggest. It’s just like, “Whatever. We sell to wholesalers.” We actually get that much pushback. “Why should I care? One way or another, I’m going to get the sale from the manufacturer.” But, now, if you start looking through reviews and the product and seller reviews, you can easily identify what’s potentially counterfeit and what is actually causing a poor custom reference, could be for the shipping, the quality of the product, and everything else. So just being aware and neglecting it, you know, 50% of eCommerce sales are happening on Amazon. It’s a beast and it’s not going anywhere.

Tom Poland 04:39
Phenomenal! Ignore those issues at your peril, by the sound of it. So three and a half minutes left, sir. Question number five, looking for one valuable free action. You know, they’re listening to this, they’re going, “Yeah, I’ve got these problems” like “I’m experiencing those symptoms”. It’s not going to solve the whole problem, but just one thing that might take them a step in the right direction?

Will Haire 04:57
The easiest thing, if you’re not, get your brand registered. You can use the IP accelerator and have a trademark brand with all the features on Amazon at three to four weeks. It’s just a way to showcase your product. It’s a super low-hanging fruit. And it’s something you could do through an Amazon-vetted Attorney. So we highly recommend that and leverage your brand, all that brand equity you’re building up.

Tom Poland 05:18
Perfect! Thank you, sir. Question six, two and a half minutes left, one valuable free resource. Where can we direct people to go so they can find out more about your work and, get some more elevated content and tips?

Will Haire 05:31
Definitely! So check out my website, and you can check out our blog content. We post pretty much regularly, almost every week. We also syndicate that on LinkedIn, but our blog would be the best place to check us out.

Tom Poland 05:41
It’s brilliant folks. I’ve been there. I’m looking at it right now. BellaVix, B-E, double L, A-V-I-X .com. Look for the blog. Go get it! And there’s also a newsletter you can sign up for and it really is chock full of- I mean, if you want information on how to do marketing on Amazon, this is an amazing free resource! So thanks for that, sir. We’ve got two minutes left, plenty of time. Question seven, what’s the one question I should have asked you?

Will Haire 06:08
Now, you know what I get a lot is, “What’s the best type of product to sell on Amazon?” And I like to say that it’s not a product, actually, it’s a brand. Amazon has differentiated itself from other marketplaces and that brands really excel. So a lot of my job is driving brand awareness to drive sales. But 50% of that happens on Amazon and the other 50% happens with your other marketing efforts. So it’s important to have an omnichannel strategy and to make sure you have a cohesive and consistent experience.

Tom Poland 06:36
I love that phrase!

Will Haire 06:37
And was that under two minutes? Did I make the seven?

Tom Poland 06:39
Yeah, we’ve got a minute to spare, so I’m going to throw a bonus question your way. It’s a bit of a curveball. Are the rumors true? Is Amazon going to open giant retail stores?

Will Haire 06:48
I believe it! You know, they’re always looking for ways like what to do with disposal inventory, so on and so forth. They also have four-star and above stores which are pretty popular. They’re here in the morn rally. So I do think with the acquisition of whole foods that I would expect there to be some type of environment where it’s a brand experience that can be ordered in-store or online and delivered using their massive logistics system. So the future is interesting and exciting for the Amazon marketplace.

Tom Poland 07:17
Will Haire, thank you so much for your insights and your time. Cheers!

Will Haire 07:20
Thanks for having me, Tom.

Tom Poland 07:22
Thanks for checking out our Marketing The Invisible podcast. If you like what we’re doing here please head over to iTunes to subscribe, rate us, and leave us a review. It’s very much appreciated. And if you want to generate five fresh leads in just five hours then check out www.fivehourchallenge.com.

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