TAS 273 : Why Change on Amazon is a Good Thing and Helps Businesses GROW with Chris Guthrie

The recent changes to the Amazon review policies have lots of people panicking about whether there’s a future selling products on Amazon. Since everyone is still rebounding and trying to figure out what the new rules mean for sellers Scott thought he’d take some time to chat with his friend Chris Guthrie who has made it his business to help sellers communicate with their customers. The two of them chat about what these changes mean practically for sellers on this episode. These two guys know their stuff so you’ll get some great insights from what they are thinking and the strategies they are putting in place to help their businesses continue moving forward.

When you play on somebody else’ playground the rules change.

If you are going to try to sell your wares on a platform you don’t own (like Amazon, or Facebook, or eBay, or whatever) you’re going to have to play by their rules. And they get to set the rules. And change them. That’s what has happened on Amazon lately and though many people are crying that it’s not fair what you need to understand is that the people who run Amazon get to decide what they are going to require you to do as a seller on Amazon. Period. So you’ve not only got to learn to play by the Amazon rules, you’ve got to adapt each time they change them. Chris and Scott think it’s good for you and for your business to have to pivot like that. It keeps you on your toes and makes you get creative when your competition may not do the same level of work to stay alive.

The Amazon review changes kill the strategy of approaching top reviewers.

It used to be a great strategy to contact the top Amazon reviewers and offer them a free product if they would leave a review. The belief was that doing so added some clout to your product if a top reviewer left a good review. But with the recent changes to Amazon’s review policy that strategy is out because you can no longer give a discount on your products in exchange for a review. You can hear other effects this change has on the way you build your business and market your products, on this episode of The Amazing Seller.

A new way to promote your products to your email list and boost sales.

Even though you are not allowed to give a discount in exchange for a review, if you’ve done the work of building up a mailing list you can use it to get some spikes in your product sales. For example, you could contact your list and tell them that on this upcoming Saturday you’re going to be offering a $10 off price for 6 hours only. Those people will be the only ones who know about the discount and will go to get the deal. You should sell a good number of products over that time span and your sales ranking will rise accordingly. Then you just need to follow up via Amazon email and your own list to encourage those purchasers to leave a product review. Scott and Chris have more ideas like this on this episode of the podcast.

Private Label sales on Amazon are far from over.

Many people are all doom and gloom about the recent changes on Amazon but on this episode, Scott and his buddy Chris Guthrie chat about why there is still plenty of opportunities for people to get started selling products on Amazon. The recent changes actually make thing similar to how Amazon was when both Scott and Chris began their sales journey on Amazon. In that respect the changes don’t seem all that bad to them. They share some new strategies and approaches to building an Amazon business on this episode so be sure you listen.

OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE AMAZING SELLER

• [0:03] Scott’s introduction to this episode of the podcast discussion with Chris Guthrie!
• [3:40] A shout out to the iTunes reviewers and Facebook community.
• [6:20] Chris’ initial thoughts about the changes happening on Amazon.
• [9:20] How this change is similar to changes Google has made over the years.
• [13:20] The reason top reviewer requests are not possible anymore.
• [19:30] Why building an email list is your best asset.
• [23:12] How a list can be built with a contest then a flash email to discount for everyone.
• [25:03] What’s really SPAM and what isn’t?
• [34:00] The impact of this on previous reviews that have been left for your products.
• [36:49] Why sales on Amazon are not over.
• [39:44] Changes like these have always been happening on all platforms.
• [46:16] Get in on the next LIVE event.

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• www.TheAmazingSeller.com/246 and www.TheAmazingSeller.com/77
• SalesBacker - Chris’ software
• www.TheAmazingSeller.com/resources (affiliate links)
• www.NichePursuits.com
• www.TheAmazingSeller.com/LIVE