Amazon FBA: Start to Finish Guide -Dominate Your Competition

In your constant pursuit to the question how to make money online: let Amazon FBA be your answer. However, before you answer the question think what are the operational details behind this business? How much will it cost? What will the time frame look like for return on investment? How much time do I need to devote to this business?

These are all legitimate questions that an Amazon FBA business will have you wondering. You would be right to question an investment that could either ruin you or make you very successful. This business, is no different than any other business except the fact that, it is ran entirely online.

So, how does it even work? Well I am glad you asked. Amazon FBA basically fulfills many services for you as a seller. They receive your product, advertise your product, ship your product and answer customer service questions for you. They do this all for a very small fee of $40 a month.

###pShopify account which allows you to ship product directly to your customer if the product is sold on your store. The customer is completely unaware of Amazon’s involvement and you pay Amazon a small fee. Believe me it is an amazing way to make money online.

Several other operational details need to be kept in mind. These are the fee’s you should budget for:

1. Amazon FBA Fee's
2. Shipping fee’s
3. Product
4. Affiliate Marketing
5. Shopify store
6. Photography
7. Graphic Design
8. Samples
9. Virtual Assistant
10. Insert Cards
11. Follow up Email Service

These are just a few of the basic things I look at when projecting a forecasting a budget for my new business. However, they are all crucial operational details you need to look into when trying to discover how to sell on amazon.

Another thing you need to look at is the time commitment. How long will this business take away from your day? Really I would have to say that Amazon FBA really is one of the least time consuming businesses you will mess with in this world. Also, it is great because most of it can be done with the typing of your keyboard or the click of a mouse.

Weigh all of your investment options for the future and come to a conclusion how you want to move forward. I can tell you though by experience that this business is lucrative if done correctly!

If you are looking for some daily motivation head on over to my podcast or go to my YouTube channel! Some other great sources of motivation are The Amazing Seller and Cody Hawk. They both have helped my business so, I will always recommend their services!

Ben Hedley

Empire Minds

For a List of all the tools I use for my Business Visit my Facebook page: http://benhedley.com/top-tools-resources-for-fba-private-label-sellers/

How to Make Money Online: What is Amazon FBA?

I could sit around and talk about the Amazon FBA business for hours. In fact, my friends and family are both sick of hearing about it. To them, I seem like a mad man that can’t stop rambling but the problem is I found myself always wanting to teach them how to make money online. That is why I developed this incredible course. I wanted to answer the question my friends and people I ran into always had: How does Amazon FBA work?

I even wanted to answer the age-old question: How to find the best FBA products? Now, when I started to dive into the massive amounts of detailed information people needed to learn to run a successful business emphasis on SUCCESSFUL, I realized it just wasn’t simply done in YouTube video. I needed to show everyone in a large course that answered the, what is Amazon FBA question.

So, Amazon FBA is a service that ships and sends items that you private label or wholesale bulk buy and have sent to Amazon. It provides a platform for people to search large varieties of products and then choose whichever they want.

Think about that for a minute. Years ago say the 90’s you would go to a store and if they didn’t have that item at your local Wal-Mart well, you just went home empty handed or had to settle with an inferior item.

Now Amazon and Amazon FBA has completely changed the game. You now can be selective. If you are a customer that is phenomenal. If you are a seller, well, now you have competition BUT, if you follow my later blog posts you will realize competition is good.

The thing is, either way, Amazon FBA is here to stay, brick and mortar stores are becoming a thing of the past. Amazon FBA has moved into the game on a large scale and everyone else is on the outside looking in.

Where does this leave you? Well, great question. Because we live in such an amazing time we are able to run a business from the tip of our fingers. The only thing we have to learn is the Amazon FBA program step to step. Also, sprinkle in some marketing and a bit of hustle and you are ready to roll.

It is crazy how many resources are out there today compared to when I was starting. One that I will regularly name in my blog posts is the Amazing Seller. Scott is a great coach and helps everyone succeed. Also, because of him, I started my own coaching platform call Empire Minds that helps people one on one.

###pDollar Fulfillment which provides much cheaper rates to its customers. They will do the exact same thing that Amazon does however, I use to ship from my own website.

Regardless of which service you use in the long run, it is worth asking the question: What is Amazon FBA? Also, I am going to show you why Amazon FBA in the next blog post! So, I’ll see you over at the next post!

-Ben Hedley

Empire Minds

How to Make Money Online: Why Amazon FBA?

The real answer to Why Amazon FBA, is why not?! Basically what you are looking at is a highly lucrative business with little to now real investment compared to others. Amazon FBA demolishes so many other start up businesses because it is just really very easy comparatively speaking. I am also, very much involved in other businesses. Real estate is another business I invest heavily into. But, if we decided to break down the cost of each of these businesses you will soon see the minimal investment needed to get into this.

Ok so, lets do just a little bit of math here for Amazon FBA. Lets just say you start your store for 50$ a month on Shopify. Then you decide to pay 40$ a month for the pro membership and sell on Amazon. Account for another $100 for advertising and then $5-10,000 for your product / pictures / shipping.

Aside from some other small monthly fees that is basically your investment. With $10,000 you can create a very lucrative business. Now, lets compare this to storage facilities or any commercial real estate. For a profitable operating storage facility you can pay upwards of $5 million. The same goes for commercial real estate properties. If you decide to jump into the risky business of house flipping you are looking at $100-150,000 overnight.

The problem with those businesses are you need a ton of upfront cash and you need to live near the property. They are great as well but, as you can see ecommerce investing is HUGE and can pay out big time. Amazon FBA helps with all of this. They are basically your sales route to all your new potential clients and it is phenomenal. They provide a platform that is unmatched globally. The only thing that compares are Jet, Alibaba and Aliexpress. However, they are all very, very different platforms.

The thing is Amazon FBA is really not going anywhere. We make up more that 60% of the selling that occurs on the billion dollar marketplace. The longer we are allowed to sell on their platform the more potential exists to bring clients to our own platforms. Shopify is wonderful because it allows us to sell on a very streamlined and efficient ecommerce marketplace.

Amazon FBA has really never been easier. It ships your product, handles the transactions, handles returns, customer service and a provides a platform where you are allowed to advertise and reach out to prospective clients.  Honestly it is one of the best things about the digital age that we live in today.

Americans and the rest of the first world countries out there love useless crap that is sent to their doorstep in two days. Now, with groceries, pet food etc. being more easily accessible from their platform many more people are finding Amazon FBA a convenient market.

If you are looking for a business to grow with over the next 10-20 years this really should be in your portfolio. Keep it in mind and as always keep hustling.

Talk to you later!

-Ben

Empire Minds

How to Make Money Online: Why Private Label?

There are so many incredible start-up companies that private label their products. One that comes to mind specifically is Under Armour. If you think about the beginning of this company they really came from nothing. They were in a private label dominated world of which companies like Nike, Reebok, New Balance and Adidas all dominated.

When they started in their niche people probably thought they were crazy. However, a company nobody ever heard of created an incredible brand surrounding their products. They started to dominate the industry and have surpassed many of the companies I've named above in both profit and branding. They created private label bags, moisture wicking products, shoes, shirts, pants you name it they planted their private label brand on the world. The sporting good industry has really never been the same.

As you can see private labeling products paid off heavily for Under Armour. People choose to buy their products in many cases because of the name. They know that this product is also, very reliable and long lasting. People notice a brand. It sticks out to them and they continuously repeat buy their products.

This is why it is so extremely crucial for you to private label Amazon products. People are devoted to a great brand. They identify with it and use it for all of their future needs. They also, tell people about that brand and advertise for you. After awhile it compounds and you start to see results like Under Armour. Now, of course you probably wont see ACTUAL results like them. They are an anomaly.

However, there are billions upon billions being made in the retail / ecommerce world. Websites like Shopify are helping people like you and myself remove thousands and even millions from these major corporations. The reason this is possible is because of Private labeling.

So, this is how I go about private labeling. First I research the one or two products I am trying to sell.  Then I research the market or niche I'd like to sell in. After this I brainstorm heavily to think of a prenominal name for my future store and products.

I will admit I am not a great graphic designer so, I use websites like Fiverr and Upwork. They have some terrific freelancers who will create amazing works of art for your products!

After you create some logos and designs for your website you need to reach out to a Chinese manufacturer or supplier of your choice and send them your images. They will attach it to your product for you, take some pictures for you to see, and then ship you a couple samples.

After you are satisfied with the designs on your product you can send those products to a photographer and get some wonderful pictures taken. You can even use those pictures to market on your social media platform as well as on Amazon and your Shopify store!

That is the quickest way to start your own private label business. The only thing I left out was creating your own unique barcode. This will allow customers to buy your product on your website as well as in the future, sell it through retail at different physical brick and mortar stores.

I hope you enjoyed my brief breakdown of the private label process and why it is important to your business! If you have any more questions please join me over at our Empire Minds community group and I look forward to helping you through the process!

Until Next Time

-Ben

------Resources------

How to Make Money Online - One on One Coaching

This is just one of the many courses I will be doing on how to make money online. This particular post will go over my one on one coaching group! The coaching and mastermind group I've created will cover many subjects, not just e-commerce.

When I started my business online, I really had no mentor as far as e-commerce goes. I had a mentor for blogging and marketing, but really that was it. So, my start was very slow. In fact, it took me about a year to start even launching my own e-commerce business. I am very thorough, and I needed to research massive amounts of information before sinking my money into another business.

Eventually, I decided Amazon FBA was for me, and I just rolled with it. That is exactly why I wanted to create a group where we could get some real one on one coaching. The group I created started as advice for someone trying to make money online. However, it has quickly transformed into something more than this. I wanted to create a course specific to investing in general, Amazon FBA, drop shipping and real estate.

So, I really started to research some incredible ways to start a group and it just quickly merged into Empire Minds. I saw others doing it like Scott at the Amazing seller or Ecommerce Entrepreneurs. That is why I wanted to launch something that encompassed everything. This one on one coaching group would cover all areas of investing.

There is a real need for advice in this world. The problem with investing and even Amazon FBA is that it is all perilous. If you make poor decisions, you will remove yourself from this business entirely. That is why it is crucial to take advice from the experts or just people who have been successful. Without their advice, I promise you this business becomes infinitely more difficult. Yes, you can still do this on your own, however, with all the resources out there now the real questions is why would you?

I have created a course that walks you through the basic steps of Amazon FBA. I have given you an avenue for free one on one coaching. I will continue to give broad spectrum courses away regarding different ways to make money online. Honestly, I am excited about it all.

Stay tuned for my next course on drop shipping. This course will crush everything you know about shopping online. I will show you some of the strategies people use to convince you to buy from them, and it will blow you away! You can subscribe to www.benhedley.com to get on the free pre-launch!

As always subscribe to my YouTube channel for further updates!

Until Next Time,

-Ben Hedley

How to Make Money Online: Leave Me a Review!

Reviews are the only way to thrive and make money online. Whether its reviews to your product, reviews to your training videos or reviews to your company etc. If you want to learn how to make money online, well, start with reviews.

Why are they so important in the digital world? The reason they are so extremely important is that there is no way for people to physically touch your product. They have to buy it and then see it. So, they rely on people who have already invested their money into the product.

Some people are major discount hunters, and they will exploit a cheaper product that has fewer reviews. They are going to have more risk upfront, however, if it is a great product then they just received a massive value. The problem is most people are not like this. They want to see the upfront value and take less risk.

People will often pay more for a product they know will be successful in the long run. That is why private labeled products are so, incredible. Their product may not necessarily be any better than the cheaper product. However, based off of experience and massive amounts of other reviews from customers they will pay a little bit more to secure a product that works.

So, just like you will need reviews to launch your Amazon career, my courses need these very same reviews. They thrive based on your words. They also, fail based on your words. You hold all of the power as consumers. All I can ask is that you give me a nice fair review so, I can continue to make successful courses for years to come!

It truly means the world to me that you would come to my website or my Udemy courses and listen to the things I am trying to teach you. There is no better feeling in this world than someone reaching out to you and telling you that you help them succeed.

Later in my Amazon FBA course I will walk you through the exact steps to make sure your products get some phenomenal reviews. In October of 2016 Amazon changed their review policy. This has made it extremely difficult to launch new products. Basically, what happened was Amazon had a difficult time with fake reviews to products.

So, they took massive steps to eliminate fake reviews. At the same time they created a policy that said in order to leave a review on a product you had to pay full price for that product and you had to have a history of shopping on Amazon.

So, new sellers were devastated. No more discounted reviews. However, think of this as a great thing. That means weak competition will be headed for the curb. Gone are the days when small fish could make a successful run on Amazon. If you want to be successful with the new review system you have to study and have a great strategy.

In the coming lessons I will teach you how to do this. However, until then I just wanted to tell you that you all are awesome for taking my course. I want to help everyone kill it on Amazon.

That is why I teach. I love it! So, when you get a chance hook me up with a solid review and I promise I will continue to put out excellent material for you and your friends!

As always check out my YouTube and feel free to Subscribe! Also, Subscribe to the page for free stuff! Head on over to Empire Minds Facebook for some one on one coaching!

Until Next Time

-Ben Hedley

How to Make Money Online - How to Pick the Perfect Product

I think one of the biggest questions people have when starting an Amazon business would be - How to pick the perfect product? It was absolutely my biggest question in this business. Perfect product may not really exist but, you can pick BETTER products.

The problem is it you won't truly find out which product is perfect until after you begin to sell it. You can do all the upfront market research and pick better products but ultimately time will tell if it is the perfect product. I wills ay that I had a hard time picking my product when I began this business.

The very first product I chose was a crappy metal coffee mug. This product was absolutely terrible. It was extremely thin with absolutely zero insulation. Unfortunately I ordered far to many and lost some money on Amazon in the process. Also, my label was TERRIBLE. It would come off after one wash in the sink!

So, needless to say I made a massive mistake at the beginning of my business. The very next product I tried was in a completely different niche. I tried to break into the baby accessories area. If you've been in the game for even a month you might notice that this niche is extremely saturated.

I picked baby bandana bibs. Also, I did not private label them so, I didn't stick out at all from my competition. Also, I used stock photos instead of my own. I tried desperately to save a dollar which ended up crushing this business as well. At the end of the day I was forced to liquidate and I tried again.

In the process of creating two massive failures, I learned the entire process of Amazon Fulfillment. When I try to explain it to my friends and family it really just sounds so easy. The problem is, the entire business is very complex. It takes time and energy like anything else in this world.

The cool part about this though is the online business is expanding every year. After you pick a perfect product you can sit back and watch it sell. Of course you have to optimize pay per click and all of your other advertising streams. After this though the sales roll in and you can set you phone to a nice DING sound.

Amazon FBA has to be one of the best passive income streams available. Now I use the word passive income loosely. Keep in mind no business really is passive. I could recommend some real estate businesses that are ALMOST passive however, that is not really the case with anything. You have to put in upfront work and risk.

Amazon FBA can be terrific. I promise you. Pick the perfect product for your business. Preferably pick a niche you enjoy so that down the road you will have fun with it. I have chosen multiple businesses that either I love or my wife loves. That way we can tag team this entire business and then pass it off to our children one day.

Remember those who act succeed. Those who sit around watching TV, movies, and wasting their time will look back at their life, wishing they would have done what you are about to do. Sell massive amounts of products online during the online revolution we are living through.

Check out my course on Udemy for some free info!

Much love to you all,

Ben Hedley (YouTube)

Empire Minds (Community)

How To Make Money Online: Jungle Scout Product Selection!

If you really want to succeed in this business you need to pick a product that SELLS! I know that is easier said than done. However, there are tools out there to help you with your research. My favorite go to tool is Jungle Scout. I love this application. I even recommend investing some resources into the web application.

Why you ask? Great question! This product allows you to skip hours and weeks of research. You can use the web application to see what is selling and what isn't. You can remove competition from areas you don't care about.

Some of my favorite features are as follows:

1. You can see if your competition is Amazon. If it is Amazon you need to run. That is a difficult area to compete with. They always have the leg up on their competition... they are Amazon..!
2. I like to see how many sales the competition has. If they are making a ton of sales well then you know that this product is in demand. So, in this case competition is very good especially if it is your first start up product.
3. I am able to how many sellers are selling the similar product. This allows me to see if it is a saturated market.
4. The web application also, allows you to see how other listings are rated. You can remove listings from your search menu that are full optimized. Leaving only the competition that you can compete with.

The web application and the chrome extension have many, many other incredible features. It would take forever to list them all so, I've included a nice link right here to Jungle Scout.

They also, have phenomenal customer service. Greg Mercer created this tool and I can tell you this, as a private label seller himself he knew exactly what he was doing. I try not to really advertise for any specific product without giving you several options to choose from however, this product is just too good.

In 2015 I actually tried to create a product similar to this. I hired a software engineer to develop my product. I even called a development firm out in San Francisco to help me. I quickly moved away from them though because they wanted to charge me $250,000. So, I let me engineer try and take a shot at it for a fraction of that price.

The bottom line is the product I had created was absolute garbage. I wasted a ton of money trying and at the end of the day I was no closer to creating a program similar to Jungle Scout.

There are a ton of people out there that do some product research using Start Up Bros excel spreadsheet. I think that is a great way as well to do product research. The issue with that is it is extremely time consuming. If you are like me and have a family, a job and several companies you just like to maximize your time as much as possible.

That is exactly why I downloaded the chrome extension and rolled with Jungle Scout. At this point of my ecommerce career every single product I have sold has been researched using this platform.

So, whatever you decide to use I wish you the very best of luck. I know this business can be hard and in the beginning seem very overwhelming. Just remember to always persevere and overcome the challenges.

YouTube

Udemy Course

Until Next Time,

-Ben Hedley

Empire Minds

How To Make Money Online: Jungle Scout Product Selection!

If you really want to succeed in this business you need to pick a product that SELLS! I know that is easier said than done. However, there are tools out there to help you with your research. My favorite go to tool is Jungle Scout. I love this application. I even recommend investing some resources into the web application.

Why you ask? Great question! This product allows you to skip hours and weeks of research. You can use the web application to see what is selling and what isn't. You can remove competition from areas you don't care about.

Some of my favorite features are as follows:

1. You can see if your competition is Amazon. If it is Amazon you need to run. That is a difficult area to compete with. They always have the leg up on their competition... they are Amazon..!
2. I like to see how many sales the competition has. If they are making a ton of sales well then you know that this product is in demand. So, in this case competition is very good especially if it is your first start up product.
3. I am able to how many sellers are selling the similar product. This allows me to see if it is a saturated market.
4. The web application also, allows you to see how other listings are rated. You can remove listings from your search menu that are full optimized. Leaving only the competition that you can compete with.

The web application and the chrome extension have many, many other incredible features. It would take forever to list them all so, I've included a nice link right here to Jungle Scout.

They also, have phenomenal customer service. Greg Mercer created this tool and I can tell you this, as a private label seller himself he knew exactly what he was doing. I try not to really advertise for any specific product without giving you several options to choose from however, this product is just too good.

In 2015 I actually tried to create a product similar to this. I hired a software engineer to develop my product. I even called a development firm out in San Francisco to help me. I quickly moved away from them though because they wanted to charge me $250,000. So, I let me engineer try and take a shot at it for a fraction of that price.

The bottom line is the product I had created was absolute garbage. I wasted a ton of money trying and at the end of the day I was no closer to creating a program similar to Jungle Scout.

There are a ton of people out there that do some product research using Start Up Bros excel spreadsheet. I think that is a great way as well to do product research. The issue with that is it is extremely time consuming. If you are like me and have a family, a job and several companies you just like to maximize your time as much as possible.

That is exactly why I downloaded the chrome extension and rolled with Jungle Scout. At this point of my ecommerce career every single product I have sold has been researched using this platform.

So, whatever you decide to use I wish you the very best of luck. I know this business can be hard and in the beginning seem very overwhelming. Just remember to always persevere and overcome the challenges.

YouTube

Udemy Course

Until Next Time,

-Ben Hedley

Empire Minds