This episode proof that you can relatively quickly build a successful Amazon FBA business!
 
Tim Holterman is a regular guy. He worked for years in a good job, working to take care of his responsibilities and life. He came to a point where he wanted to change his life so that he could spend more time with his family. He heard of the possibility of making a change through beginning an Amazon sales business from Chris Guthrie (a previous guest on The Amazing Seller podcast). So he decided to take the leap and get started building his own business. He asked lots of questions to know that what others were doing was possible for him. Once he was convinced, Tim began building his business - and he did all of it without ever signing up for a paid course of any kind. He invested a portion of his salary each month to building his business. Listen to this episode - part 1 of a lengthy conversation where Tim tells his story and how he got over $6,000 in sales within the first 30 days of beginning his FBA Business.
 
Tim’s product research process for his Amazon business began with the purchase of one piece of software.
 
Amasuite was the software Tim began with, simply because he trusted it’s creator, Chris Guthrie. He started researching the top 100 sellers in lots of categories. He drilled down into those products by setting up filters to weed out products he didn’t think were good options. Some of those products were not an option because the niche was too saturated. Others he simply didn’t think were good. Through that process Tim found a product he felt good about. He wasn’t concerned at that point with building a brand, though he does feel that is the best way to begin. He just found products that might sell well and made a decision. The next step was sourcing the product. Find out how he went about his product sourcing in this episode.
 
Tim’s smart way of getting a sample of the product he was interested in.
 
When Tim researched his product on Alibaba (An online Chinese directory of product providers), he found one of the exact products that were listed on Amazon. He felt there was room in the market for him to offer the exact same product, so he simply ordered one of his competitor’s products from Amazon.  He accomplished two things at once by doing this. He got to see the actual product - it’s quality, packaging, etc. AND he got to see how his competitor was presenting the product, including a misspelling on their packaging that hasn’t been corrected to this day! Find out more about the quality control process and getting samples of your potential product in this edition of The Amazing Seller.
 
Shipping a private label product to Amazon - directly from the product supplier!
 
The supplier Tim was able to find had experience shipping products directly to Amazon so he thought it was worth trying. He bought his own UPC to put on the products, printed out his own labels to brand the product as his, and the supplier put the labels on the products, printed out shipping labels, and sent the products directly to Amazon for Tim’s account. It was a tremendous time saving step that enabled Tim to keep one more piece of the process off his table so that he could fulfill the goal of spending more time with his family. Hear exactly how Tim went about working out this deal on this episode.
 
Getting reviews for a new product - Tim’s unique strategy.
 
Getting reviews for your Amazon product is essential to begin moving your product up in Amazon’s search results, and giving your product a sense of legitimacy. Tim knew that and wanted to boost his product through getting some quick reviews. The first step he took is common sense, but one not many people do. He enlisted people he knew who had Amazon Prime accounts (so they could get free shipping) and asked them to purchase and review the product, and he would pay them back the purchase price. Essentially, he’s giving away the products for free but through Amazon it registers as a full-blow pu