Amazon Success Case Study. How a mother of 2 young children started a 7 figure Amazon business in less than 18 months while working part time.

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1 Amazon Success Case Study How a mother of 2 young children started a 7 figure Amazon business in less than 18 months while working part time.

2 Why Choose Amazon? At the close of 2015, Amazon will have 26% of all U.S. web sales, up from 16% four years ago. A quick look at the numbers reveals: 244 Million active users 47 Million prime users 69% Online user reach in the United States Million unique monthly visitors to Amazon sites 20% Year-over-year revenue growth of Amazon 2 Billion products purchased from Amazon Marketplace Sellers in % of web shoppers go directly to Amazon for product searches 51% of US consumers planned on doing most of their online shopping at Amazon.com Simply put, if you have a good product to sell, Amazon has users ready to buy. Due to the vast amount of users that visit and search Amazon every day, with careful product selection, supplier vetting, listing setup & optimization and a thorough product launch, you too can create your very own successful online business. You don t need to be a technical wizz or a marketing guru to obtain your ideal lifestyle or the freedom to spend more time with your family, on your hobbies, travelling or on other pursuits. Simply follow this case study to find out how a normal, everyday mother went from a part time office job to a full time Amazon success story. What makes a good product you ask? Read on to find out as we show you our proven product checklist for picking great products that sell consistently well.

3 Why use the Amazon FBA (Fulfilled by Amazon) Service? Your products are eligible for Amazon Prime free shipping All storage, shipping, returns and 24/7 customer service is handled by Amazon Increased sales: An Amazon 2013 study noted FBA increased sales by more than 20% for 73% of Amazon sellers using the program Frees up valuable time allowing you to grow your business and focus on the important things Most importantly FBA allows you to run your business from anywhere in the world, from a small rural town in the USA, to a beachfront villa in the Bahamas. The choice is yours.

4 Who is Sophie Howard? I am a 35 year old mother of a 4 year old boy, a 2 year old girl and wife to David. After switching from full time to part time work to spend more time with my young children, I grew increasingly tired and frustrated working hard only to have someone else benefit financially. After speaking with a friend who was having great success selling via Amazon s FBA service, I signed up for a popular (and expensive!) online Amazon training course. This was the first step in my 18 month journey from having no knowledge of FBA to running my own successful 7 figure Amazon business from my home by the beach in Wellington, New Zealand.

5 My core products are targeted toward women similar to myself as I know this market best. This gives me a significant advantage in crafting product listing copy that makes an emotional connection to my target audience and helps them to buy with their hearts not their minds, thus increasing sales and providing impressive conversion rates. While my range of over 300 products may look completely unrelated, they all target the same core female audience consisting of similar demographics, ages, spending patterns and more. Unit Session Percentage is your conversion rate. In ecommerce, top sellers are happy with a 3% - 4% conversion rate. Since the Amazon platform provides sellers with customers who are ready to buy, a 10% coversion rate is considered very good. Take a look at my conversion rates. I can teach you how to make more profit with less hassle!

6 Through plenty of trial and error, a few short online training courses and the advice of an experienced mentor, I was able to create my own checklist for repeatedly picking winning products that sell consistently at premium prices. This successful formula has created a solid foundation on which I have based my Amazon business and I m now working on expanding my branded ecommerce websites. Now I want to pass this invaluable knowledge and experience on to you to allow you to create your own ideal lifestyle and work towards your own financial goals (not your boss s).

7 What do you need to start selling on Amazon? You will need around $500 to $1000 for your initial product order. An Amazon seller account ($40 per month), a computer with a reliable internet connection and ideally a quiet workspace. The one or two online tools that I regularly use and recommends are all web based and free (the only paid one is $9 per month!). The most important mental requirement is the motivation to keep pushing through each step of the process and to avoid getting bogged down on details that don t matter early on. Fine tuning and improvement such as great packaging or a stunning logo can be sorted in the next shipment. Getting your product to the Amazon warehouse and your product listing live is the most important goal.

8 My Confident Selection FBA Product Checklist: Size: To keep shipping costs low the ideal product fits inside a small shoebox (or equivalent dimensions) Simple: Less moving parts or electronics means less chance of failure and returns or refunds Lightweight: More weight means higher shipping costs which reduces your profits Product Niche: Having a small number of competitors or competitors with low reviews and poor listing optimization. (I can show you how to identify and research viable niches quickly and painlessly) Sizing: Avoid products that require exact sizing such as shoes or gloves due to high returns and often poor feedback regarding sizing guides Potential market size: How many monthly Amazon searches, how large or small are the interest groups this product appeals to and can this product be effectively scaled? Target audience: Do I have experience or interest in this niche? How can I speak directly to this audience and make an emotional connection via carefully crafted copy? Market saturation: Avoiding products that have become very popular for students of other well-known online courses such as silicone spatula, baking mats/gloves, vegetable peelers, grill brushes, infuser drink bottles, etc.

9 Dealing with Overseas Suppliers, Product Sourcing & International Logistics While most people head straight to Alibaba to begin their product search, I have had much better results sourcing unique products from simply watching the world around me, seeing what is popular, advertised online or in print, or I see in stores. Search with Google by combining your niche or general product with words such as supplier, manufacturer or factory and combing through a number of pages of results can reveal gems that many competitors miss. Once you have found 5 to 10 possible suppliers, open communications. Even if this is your first product you are more likely to be considered a serious customer instead of yet another tire kicker if you refer to yourself as we and our. When starting out we recommend you include your company name in your

10 signature (use a placeholder if required, you can finalize your company name later). Adding key phrases such as we are looking to add XYZ product to our range. Be sure to Google your preferred supplier s business name before proceeding further. You want to establish is there is any bad feedback related to this company or if the company was only recently formed. I always start the conversation with a supplier on a friendly and personal basis, asking a few questions about where they are, where I m from, my situation etc. before moving on to business. A few minutes invested in warming the relationship before launching into haggling over price and specifications means the conversation goes entirely differently. When I recently visited the Canton Fair in late 2015 two of my suppliers send their sales managers on 15 hour trips to visit me at their cost, to help me have a trusted translated for completely unrelated product sourcing discussions. You can be sure they don t offer this personal touch to bigger spenders that me, who don t show some manners, appreciation and kindness through the business dealings. Once you have progressed with your supplier through the various product details such as minimum order quantity (MOQ), product specifications and packaging types you will need to prepare the product for shipment to Amazon. Make sure you meet Amazon requirements for labelling and barcodes as outlined in Seller

11 Central to avoid extra processing charges. All the rules are clearly stated on Amazon with videos I have a check list I prepared for suppliers that we send and ask them to sign to make sure they ve understood. An error can be very costly and frustrating. Unless you are shipping a very large quantity or have selected a bulky product we highly recommend air shipping via DHL or FedEx rather than sea shipping, especially when starting out. This shipping choice gives you the best compromise between speed and cost. Getting your initial orders to Amazon within 1 to 2 weeks is much more important than waiting months for a sea shipment to arrive before dealing with potential port and customs headaches just to save a small amount per unit. There are also unpredictable issues with sea shipping beyond your control. Lastly, when dealing with a new supplier we highly recommend paying via PayPal. While there are more fees involved, the added levels of protection should any problem arise is well worth the cost. Don t pay via Western Union or bank transfer until you have established a good working relationship with your supplier as there is no way to reverse a transfer or get your money back if something goes wrong. While we have only briefly touched on many of these details you will find more detailed information as you continue to read this ebook.

12 How can you start your own Amazon success story? You ve heard my story and followed my journey. Now take action in starting your own success story by getting all the in-depth details, how to s and step by step instructions to create a highly profitable store on Amazon. We break my own business practices and other invaluable information down into eight easy to follow video modules. These videos aren t padded out with hype or sales buzzwords, you won t be told to crush it in 2016 or take MASSIVE action. Instead Sophie will guide you first hand through the entire process from selecting a great niche and product to listing and marketing your product. Let my down to earth and friendly manner help you overcome your fears, answer your questions and ease any concerns you may have. All of my techniques and advice are 100% within Amazon s Service Terms and Guidelines. You won t find any dodgy tactics or questionable ethics here, only tried and tested advice from someone who was once in your shoes starting from nothing.

13 Topics covered in the video modules: Private labelling your own brand How to avoid product listing hijacking Dealing with logistics and suppliers in Asia Amazon PPC Advertising Getting reviews from respected, legitimate sources that are within Amazon s Service Terms Getting your product on page 1 of Amazon search results for your keywords Keyword research and how to rank for popular keywords How to increase organic sales with multiple marketing methods Optimizing product listings including titles, keywords, bullet points and descriptions The power of a good product launch (or relaunch) How to write copy that speaks to your customer s heart not their minds and get that sale How to get conversion rates >10% (as shown in my screenshots) Promotion outside of Amazon such as Facebook ads How to encourage repeat purchases, referrals and grow a strong brand How to command a premium price for your product How important images and image stacks are to your sales and conversion rates How you can gain access to my talented team of virtual assistants (including our image stacks specialist) for all the boring, technical or time consuming tasks you would rather avoid.

14 Once you have finished the video modules you will have the knowledge and understanding to launch your own product to your hungry crowd of customers while making progress toward your ideal lifestyle. I explain all the critical details that allow my virtual team to produce the impressive, consistent sales every month. This is selling real products to real people. No drop shipping, no affiliate marketing, no buzzwords or testosterone - just carefully selected products sold with great photos, honest copy, legitimate reviews and an optimized listing page. Don t hesitate! Make 2016 the year you start your OWN successful Amazon business. If a normal, everyday mother of two young children can do it while working part time, so can you! Thank you for investing your time learning more about Amazon, it s a great first step in your exciting journey to building your business! Keep an eye on your inbox for tips and advice in the coming week to help you get started. If you d like to take an online course to help launch your business, check out to learn more. Take action and start your successful Amazon business today!