I'm a former Amazon marketplace leader and current 8-figure seller. I write about advanced strategies and tactics for Amazon brands, that you won't read about anywhere else. Not for beginners.
βΌοΈ How to Skip the Line and Join the Top 1%
This Issue's TLDR...
β π Did someone forward you this newsletter? First of all, give them a crisp high five when you see them. Second, head over here to subscribe and read past issues. β BEST from MeI've been uncharacteristically silent on social media over the past two weeks. And, if you've been keeping score at home, you probably noted that I didn't send a B@A newsletter last week. That's because... (drumroll) Last Thursday, I closed on the biggest business acquisition of my career! I'll share more in the coming weeks. For now, I'll just say that the business is an Amazon agency, and it's quietly one of the best, if not THE best, in the space. You ever notice how, in a lot of different domains in life, the very best in that field aren't out there shouting about how good they are? Instead, they're head's down, honing their craft. If you follow the NBA, Nikola Jokic is sort of the archetypal example of what I'm talking about here. So, yeah, I guess you could say that I bought the Nikola Jokic of Amazon agencies. And I'm pumped to step in and grow it with my partners. More to come on that soon though. In the Mean Time...I want to share a little bit about the "why" behind this business acquisition, and how my "why" might align with yours. You see, I've always been a builder. For a long time, I thought that meant building from scratch. Taking things from Zero to One. I thought that...until I was exposed to small- and medium- business (SMB) buying through my work with different Amazon Aggregators. Despite an early career in M&A, it simply never occurred to me that I could be my own private equity firm. That I could step into a business spitting off $2mm in EBITDA annually, and make it better. I had self-limiting beliefs. How could I buy a big business without a war-chest of capital? Even if I came up with the capital, why would someone sell a great business; I'm buying a lemon, right? How can I compete with institutional buyers in a sale process? I never challenged these self-limiting beliefs, and that held me back for a long time. But when I saw SMB business (i.e., less than $5mm EBITDA) buying firsthand, and went down the rabbit-hole a bit, I realized...I could do that. So I did. I started small. My first business acquisition was in June 2022, and it was a small Amazon FBA business (<$500k revenue). It was intentionally small. I needed to start in a domain where I GWD (Get it, Want it, Do it)...especially since I was risking my own capital. Not a lot of capital, but enough to upset me if the acquisition went sideways. Since then, I've acquired several other Amazon FBA businesses, and have been on the hunt for other "Amazon-related" or "Amazon adjacent" businesses (I try to stay within my GWD framework). I do this because I firmly believe that it's much quicker (but not necessarily, easier) to get to the Top 1% through Acquisition Entrepreneurship, compared to regular old Entrepreneurship. It's quicker (I think), and it's also less risky. The odds of success for a Startup? Around 10%. The odds of success with Acquisition Entrepreneurship? Over 98%!
In a nutshell, that's my "why". I want to WIN...as fast as possible, and with the highest probability of success. If you're with me on that, great! I'll be sharing more about Acquisition Entrepreneurship in coming B@A newsletter issues, and even doing some deep dives into some Amazon FBA businesses on the market (or maybe ones that aren't on the market, officially, but I have an inside track on). If you aren't with me on this concept of Acquisition Entrepreneurship, that's OK too. Building from scratch is a noble (and fun!) endeavor. But if you want to build from scratch and get to the Top 1% of Amazon sellers, then you need to get to $6 million in annual sales, or $500,000 in sales per month. Maybe that's within reach for you. Maybe it isn't...but you're still buckled in and ready to drive there, however long it takes. Regardless, I'm here with you. Dropping the most advanced Amazon strategies, tactics, and knowledge...every week. BEST from Everyone ElseBest from the B@A CommunityMy good friend John Shea from Momentum Commerce recently shared with me the answer to a question that I've been pondering for a long time... What's the sales lift from a Climate Pledge Friendly badge? Well, his research team studied 1000s of products over TWO YEARS and came up with an estimate: +8.4%. Of course, the sales lift varies by category, so if you're in Patio, Lawn & Garden, and have been dragging your feet on getting your products certified, or simply filing a case with Amazon, you need to get on it! Kudos, John, for sharing this awesome insight. FYI: A little while back, I built a simple calculator to determine if your products qualify for Amazon's Compact By Design certification. You can grab it here. Best from XWhy do some main images render larger on product detail pages? My internet friend asked this question on Twitter/X a few weeks back, but didn't get satisfactory (or correct) answers in the comments. Reply to this email with your thoughts and, if you're right, I'll give you a special shoutout in B@A. (HINT: The answer isn't what you think.) I'll reveal the correct answer next week.
Best from LinkedInMy sense from talking to people, and observing conversations in various seller communities, is that there are still a lot of misunderstandings out there about Search Query Performance data. On the one hand, great! It gives me something to talk and write about. But on the other hand...it's just so on brand for Amazon to fail to clearly explain things. Ironic, considering that, internally, Amazon culture is centered around clear and precise written communication. But, I digress. Point is...I appreciate when other smart people jump in to disambiguate what's going on with SQP data, like my LinkedIn buddy, Mike Frekey. Here's Mike's 4-minute explanation of what results in SERP are, and are not, counted in SQP. Kudos, Mike, for taking the time to share this. Updates to the Amazon Private Label PathwayBack in February, I presented at Kevin King's Virtual Billion Dollar Seller Summit. My topic...How to Skip the Line and Join the Top 1% of Amazon Sellers. In line with the BEST from Me write-up above, I shared the secrets of "Acquisition Entrepreneurship." My presentation was voted in the Top 5 of all presenters (room for improvement next year, I guess), and I've added the deck that I presented to the Amazon Private Label Pathway. If you're at all interested in buying businesses (maybe some of Thrasio's distressed assets?), reply to this email and we can talk! * Back Story on the Amazon Private Label Pathway, ICYMI... A few months back, I had a small group of coaching clients that were at the same point in their Amazon seller journeys. I found myself answering the same questions, and pointing them to the same resources, so, in true Amazon fashion, I asked myself "What's the 1-to-Many solution here?" and built a Notion page of helpful resources, which I've called "Amazon Private Label Pathway." You can get access to it here: https://auxo.gumroad.com/l/amazonpathway (it's free; but if you want to buy me a beer, I won't object)β β |
Best @ Amazon
The Newsletter for the Top 1% of Amazon Sellers
I'm a former Amazon marketplace leader and current 8-figure seller. I write about advanced strategies and tactics for Amazon brands, that you won't read about anywhere else. Not for beginners.
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