TRANSCRIPTION

The other day, I came across this email in my company’s inbox and it went like, “Hey Willy, I know you are great at Amazon and all that. But can you tell me why I must learn from coaches like you? I mean, I can figure it out by myself and save all this money spent on those training for my business!”

Well, when I read this email, I can only say… I admire this person’s confidence, and it will be awesome if he can figure out Amazon ecommerce by himself. But, that does not mean I agree with what he said. Because if you plunge into an Amazon ecommerce business blindly without guidance, most probably you are not going to save money. In fact, you are going to lose money, and worst – your passion for this business.
 

So, in today’s episode, I will take this chance to answer this person’s question, and tell everyone why I have always advised people to learn from experienced coaches instead of trying to figure out Amazon ecommerce by themselves. Many of you out there would probably have similar questions too – so listen on if you are interested to know my take on this issue!


I really want to salute anyone who would come and tell me they want to figure out Amazon ecommerce by themselves. It’s just that this is a super-challenging task, and one which I will dissuade anyone from taking up if possible. Years back, I had to explore Amazon ecommerce by myself because I have no choice – I was simply too deep in debts and don’t have the resources to afford for such coaching programmes. But you SHOULDN’T do so if you can afford the money. Here are the reasons.


First of all, starting up an Amazon ecommerce business without guidance is going to be almost impossible. You may argue, ‘But there are so many free guides and videos out there to help us! How can it be that difficult?”


Well, though there are indeed plenty of guides lying around, what these guides provide you with are just very little snap shots of how this industry is like, but not the actual do-hows. Imagine we are not talking about ecommerce here, but talking about slimming down – everyone sure knows the way to slim down, and I bet there are all kinds of healthy-eating and healthy-exercising guides around. But do these guides guarantee you results? Most of the time, no. Because ultimately, the best way to slim down healthily is still to engage a fitness coach to monitor and guide you along. 


And the same goes for starting an Amazon ecommerce business. There are simply so many things you need guidance and supervision on for this venture. For example – how should you go about applying for a Verified Seller Account on Amazon? Don’t be surprised, but just this very first step will get many newcomers stuck. There are many things to do before one can successfully set up and verify themselves as a Seller on Amazon, and without proper guidance, this is a no-go task.


But let’s say in the event you manage to complete this step by some luck, you then have to go on to complete other steps like setting up payments, having a valid business address, getting Amazon to identify your bank account as a business account, etc. If you are just a small seller with no prior business experience at all, how do you expect to do all this by yourself? That’s why you need guidance, and guidance from an experienced Amazon seller who had gone through all this before. Otherwise, your entrepreneur dream is never going to take off, much less becoming successful.


Next, plunging into an Amazon business blindly is going to make you lose money, especially for those who have no prior business experience. This is because Amazon has an algorithm, or a ‘method’, by which the authorities use to rank a seller’s products. The algorithm is always being updated, so unless you are already very familiar with it, don’t expect to see your products getting sales.


I shall use myself as an example: I personally had been trolled by the Amazon algorithm many times, before I finally got some hang of it. And even after these couple of years of selling on Amazon, I don’t dare to claim I know everything about the Amazon algorithm. Figuring out the Amazon algorithm is like trial-and-error – you get it right some times, but most of the times you just get it wrong. Experienced sellers may have better chances of guessing what it’s like, but that’s it – because the Amazon authorities are not going to jump out and declare to sellers what changes they have made to the algorithm. If you are a total new seller to Amazon – whatever money you invest in your business will be ‘eaten up’ by this algorithm, unless you have someone to guide you along!


To be honest, if you flip your mindset around, maybe you won’t find it that unbearable to part with your money with a business coach to learn about Amazon ecommerce. Just think of it as getting an experienced “tutor” to coach you – or maybe your child – for a “subject” which you or your child is very weak at. Do you think that is a waste of money?


No, right? Because you know this “tutor” is going to give useful advice to ensure you or your child can “pass the examinations”. With good “tutors”, there will be greater chances of you exceeding. Meanwhile, no matter how lousy that “tutor” may be, you can’t possibly get worse than where you were at before the “tuition”. If you are, then perhaps it’s time for some reflection – is it because you/your child is already giving up on the “subject”? Or in our case – are you having thoughts of giving up on this Amazon ecommerce venture already?


In conclusion, I will strongly advise people who are serious about setting up a successful Amazon business to find someone to guide them along. And I am not saying it should be me – no, anyone with the correct expertise will be able to do it. But please, if you want to make ecommerce work for you, go learn from an experienced coach, so that you will go down fewer wrong paths, and keep that passion in you burning. 


And this will be the end of this episode. Goodbye, and I will see you in the next episode.