How to Make Money Selling Products on Amazon...19 Years Old...Passive Income!

                                  

Selfish Section:

Since this is my first post on Steemit, let me shortly introduce myself without wasting your time. 

I am a 19 year old undergraduate student at The Ohio State University on course to major in Industrial Design. My plan in life is to always do my best and see where my opportunities take me. 

My goal in life is FREEDOM...from the 9-5...from a boss...from being locked in one part of the world...etc...etc...silly college kid with unrealistic dreams.

I started a physical product business about a year and a half ago but I recently began selling my products on Amazon about 6 months ago.

                                                      Sales Report from 2/2/16 to 8/10/16 (Roughly 6 months)

Value Section:

"Why did he title the two sections selfish section and value section?"

A question you may have asked yourself in the first few seconds of reading this post.

Answer: Steemit is all about adding value to readers and helping others better themselves. Reading about an individual is boring (unless you're a sheep that lives and dies for celebrity gossip and BS) and it does not add value to people.

This same principle applies when running a business - nobody cares how you started your business or what you hope to do with it - consumers only care about what your product can do for them and why they should purchase it.

With this thought in mind, let's get started MAKING MONEY ON AMAZON!

                                                              

Stage One - Selecting a Product and Niche to Sell in:

"Do what you love and the money will follow!"

WRONG...selfish!!! This is one of my least favorite cliche quotes ever because it just simply is not true. As stated previously, people do not care if you love what you're doing, all they care about it what it will do for them.

*End of Rant*

Follow demand and find gaps to fill.

Amazon is an open house for gaining free knowledge on what products are selling and what products aren't.

By using the Amazon Best Sellers page, you are able to break your search down into different departments that will give you the 100 best selling products in each department.

"Why would you want to sell against the best selling products on Amazon?"

Because there are actually people out there buying those things! If you are able to just grab a small piece of a big market, you will have yourself a successful business.

Types of products you should avoid selling: largely mechanical or electrical items, fragile items that require specialized shipping, illegal or counterfeit items, expensive items ($200+), seasonal products, heavy or hard to handle (30 lbs+), markets with high brand recognition (clothes, cosmetics, supplements).

Doing your research:

1. Navigate to the Amazon Best Sellers page and start looking for a specific department you have the most knowledge in.

2. Find a product in that department that is selling in Top 50-100 (brand name or not).

3. Search for the general product type in Amazon search bar (example: golf umbrella or aluminum baking sheet).

                                 

4. After searching your product (example: aluminum baking sheet) you will be able to quickly see a few things:

                a. brands who populate the top of the search results,nthis case it is pretty spread out by brands I do not recognize.

                b. quality of products and popularity of the market you are looking to get into, in this case it seems          big enough to make lots of money but also get a product ranking on the first page of search results.

               c. price of competitive products and Prime status *notice all products are available with Prime*

5. Click on a product that appears about 10-12 spots down from the top product.

6. Examine quality of listing (product images, features (bullet points), product description). Actively look for ways that you could improve on this listing if it was yours, whether it is more information, better images, etc.

7. Scroll down to the Product Information area and look at Best Seller Rank, you are looking for about 1000 or lower for the larger category to confirm it is an active selling market.

                       

8. Look at the number of reviews (preferably 200 or less) and read some of the 2-star reviews to see what problems people have with the product that you may be able to solve.

9. Repeat this process with 5 or more listing in this product field while keeping a close eye on poor quality listings (blurry images, short or missing descriptions, and other mistakes), low and/or bad reviews, and anything else that could lead buyers away and towards your product.

*Remember, finding a product is not the easy part of selling on Amazon, but rather the hardest. That is why I do not share what product I am selling, as I spent multiple days and hours finding the optimal market.*

Stage Two - You've Found your Product...Where do I get them?

Alibaba - a magical tool that lets any Average Joe talk directly with big time manufacturers (mostly Chinese).

                                 

Since I produce my own products here in the USA (hell yeah) I have not went through this process personally but here are some great resources for sourcing:

- How You Can Make Big Money Importing From China – The Rise And Fall Of My Empire…

-  10 Tips On Importing Wholesale Products From China Using Alibaba Or GlobalSources

After you have decided on a supplier come up with a brand name and logo you are going to use on the product. 

Resources like Fiverr and 99Designs can help you get a professional logo made at a rather low cost.

Stage Three - Pre-launch & Listing Prep

At this point you should have your product inventory ordered and on its way from who-knows-where.

                                  

In the meantime, you should begin registering for an Amazon Seller's account so that you may begin listing your new product. 

Be sure to list your product for Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) which is how a product becomes "Prime," a very important piece to making your Amazon business passive.

The instructions for registering and creating a product listing can be found here.

Be sure to use captivating bullet points and descriptions, beautiful high quality images, and a clear concise title.

     Example of a good listing with simple title, short yet informative bullet points, and high quality images.

Now that you have a listing completed aside from maybe a few pictures, you should begin reaching out to family, friends, and colleagues who may be interested in testing out your product in return for a review on your Amazon listing.

*One thing to note is that there are 2 different types of reviews on Amazon: normal reviews and verified (purchase) reviews.*

If you were to simply hand out products to your testers then their reviews would be counted as normal reviews, but if you were to sell them to them at a discount of 50% or less than they would be considered Verified Reviews.

To start I would recommend just personally exchanging the product to them in return for the review. It is crucial to collect at least 10 reviews, verified or not, before you start advertising your product.

Stage Four - Launch & Keyword Research

Now that you have inventory into an Amazon Fulfillment Center, your product listing is active, and you have 10 or more reviews on your product, how do you land your first sale?

                                      

Amazon Sponsored Products - Pay Per Click Campaigns

1. Start an Automatic Targeting Campaign with a $25+ daily budget and average bid of $.75-$1.00 per click.

2. Run this for a week and download "Search Terms Report."

3. Look for the 2-3 keywords that provided the best conversions and most sales.

4. Create a Manual Targeting campaign using these new keywords with same budget and bidding.

5. Repeat this process finding the most effective keywords for your product.

6. Enter the most effective keyword in your product editor under the "Keywords" tab.

Stage Five - Learn & Adjust

Although I may have promised a passive income, everything requires a little work even after it has been set up.

You should be playing around by adjusting new pictures and different bullet points as much as you can. 

By changing only one factor at a time you are able to see what converts the best and eventually you will have a near perfect listing.

                                    

                 I hope that you have learned at least one thing from this post.

                                        Now get off your butt and get to work!