AF235 - Why Is This A Successful Amazon Business Strategy?

Today I am frustrated, and I am going to be upfront: today, we’re going to talk some dirt. My inbox is flooded with messages from people complaining because they received bad education and wound up suspended from Amazon because they didn’t check the rules. So today’s episode is about honesty and truth and clearing the air about what bundles are, why they work, and how to execute them properly.

I open with the very important truth that there are people out there who want to swindle you by lying and teaching concepts that will get you kicked off Amazon and that you need to go into every learning opportunity (including mine) with your eyes and ears open. Then I discuss what bundles actually are and emphasize that your very first priority when creating bundles should be adding value for your customers to make yourself stand out and let your customers know you care about their experience. I also give some examples of good and bad ways to bundle, including mismatching consumable and non-consumable items, annoying customers with unwanted extras, and using custom packaging to add value. After that, I go deeper into the philosophy behind successful bundling, which is that products exist to meet a need or solve a problem, and introduce the 'who-what-where-when-how' framework for understanding how your bundles can do that for your customers. Then I emphasize how you can’t automate creativity and have to put the work in, and finish off by sharing one of the most important things my dad ever taught me: you should do your best to do things right the first time so that you can avoid stress and mess and get on with being successful.

You can chat more with the Amazon Files and Mommy Income community by joining our Facebook group with today’s codeword SUCCESS, where you can learn more about bundling, ask questions, and participate in the conversation with other sellers. And if you’re ready to take your business to a whole new level, visit MommyIncome.com/Coach to schedule your one-on-one coaching call today.

This week on the Amazon Files:

• Bad education and following Amazon’s rules
  
• Clearing up bundling misconceptions
  
• What bundling is and how to create value in your bundles
  
• The importance of treating your customers well
  
• Examples of good bundles
  
• Making your bundle stand out
  
• Mismatched bundles and how not to pair consumables and non-consumables
  
• Meeting your customers’ needs and solving their problems
  
• Choosing complementary products
  
• The Who-What-Where-When-Why of your bundle
  
• Packaging as a value-add item
  
• What you can and can’t automate
  
• Doing it right the first time
  
  

“I’m the one telling you right now, it’s not about you, it’s about your customer. But it will eventually be about you and your product and your profit and your bottom line if you do it correctly.”

- Kristin Ostrander

WATCH:

LISTEN:

Quotes:

“That’s why we’re in business. We’re in business so that we can do better for ourselves. So you can have freedom and flexibility and financial security and things like that.”

“Just because somebody is making money and making success at something does not mean they’re doing it correctly, properly, above board, and without crazy Blackhat strategies. So let me just, let’s just be honest about that. There are people out there that are swindling, that are lying, that are teaching concepts that could get you kicked off of Amazon in a minute.”

“Guess what? Jim Bob over here in another Facebook group who says this is allowed isn’t an expert. He’s just working on maybe his own experience or something he’s learned from somebody that told somebody that told somebody.”

“All I want you to do is be aware that there are people out there that are teaching the wrong things when it comes specifically to bundling, when it comes to dropshipping, when it comes to some of these concepts that you are and aren’t allowed to do.”

“Bundles are highly complementary items packaged together in a convenient way.”

“When you’re creating a bundle, the very first question you should ask yourself is, 'What is the value I’m bringing to my customer?”

“Did you know that if you think about your customer first and think about enhancing their experience and helping their experience go better, they will come back to you and buy from you specifically? Because you treated them so well, because you had their best interest in mind, not just your bottom line.”

“As a consumer, you understand when someone’s put time, effort, and energy into something upfront in order to create a great experience for you as a buyer. You remember that. If a store clerk remembers your name the next time you come in, you’re going to remember that.”

“They think they’re enhancing the brand services but guess what? I’m buying bathroom towels for my bathroom that I just remodeled and updated, and I don’t want your coffee mug, and that does not enhance my experience. As a matter of fact, it gets on my nerves.”

“Bringing value is enhancing their user experience, making it memorable, making it more convenient, making it easier. Something that’s adding value to them, not as a way to get around the rules, to get around product restrictions, to get around brand restrictions, to get away from hijackers, to just try to sell more product outside of that. Because anybody who tries that doesn’t succeed for long.”

“If you created your bundle just to get hijackers off of your listing, and you randomly added something there that doesn’t bring value to the customer, it’s not going to go well.”

“Correct bundles are successful when they have things in common.”

“That is what bundles do, they meet a need or solve a problem.”

“Items have to be highly complementary and make sense together. Just because it’s all used in the kitchen doesn’t mean it’s used together.”

“The best bundlers can answer who, what, when, where, why, and how of their bundle. And if you can define that for your bundle, the chances of you being successful are ten times more than people who don’t have that.”

“I’ve never met a person who has never heard of Walmart, or Starbucks, or Nike. Why? Because these brands and companies have taken the time and energy to take care of their customers, listening to their customers, understanding what their customers want and need.”

“The creation process and the research process for creating things cannot be automated.”

“It’s not going to be automated. You’re going to have to set up your systems and processes, you’re going to learn how to do the proper research and do it right and do it correctly and do it for the right reasons. And when you do all of those things, just watch the money roll in.”

“The choice is yours. You can struggle, you can literally drive the struggle bus up the mountain if you want, that’s totally up to you.”

“We know that bundles work. And they work when you do them correctly. And you can do them successfully. But there is a right way and a wrong way. And there’s a right motive and a wrong motive. So just ask yourself those questions.”

“I am still a wholesale bundle seller. That is how I make my primary income. So I’m in the trenches with you. I am not teaching from some random sideline when I don’t know what’s going on. Y’all, I have had 412 correspondences from Amazon in the past two weeks with, you know, dealing with the same problems and same issues that you guys are as well.”

Related Content:

• 2022 Workshops - Coupon code: workshop50
  
• Wholesale Bundle System
  
• Email questions
  
• Learn With Us
  
• Coaching
  
• The Amazon Files Hub
  
  

Grow Your Amazon Business!

Thanks for tuning into this week’s episode of The Amazon Files, the show to help Amazon sellers along their business journey one step at a time with Amazon expert and your host, Kristin Ostrander. If you enjoyed this episode, head over to Apple Podcasts, subscribe to the show, and leave us your honest review. Don’t forget to share your favorite episodes with your friends on social media! Use the codeword SUCCESS to join us on Facebook. Each week, Kristin hosts a live discussion on how to grow your Amazon business. Don’t forget to check out our website and subscribe to our mailing list for even more resources.