TAS 161 : (Open Discussion) How To Pick NEW Products in 2016 with Greg Mercer

One of the things that makes for a better business is learning from people who are down that business path ahead of you. Scott loves to hear from people who have been doing Amazon private label sales for some time and one of those people he’s chatted with before is Greg Mercer, creator of Jungle Scout and Amazon seller himself. This conversation is a bit of an update to a previous episode (Episode 56), where Greg and Scott share their current tips about choosing products, launching, and the lessons they’ve learned over the years.

Greg Mercer’s criteria for good products to sell on Amazon

There are some common sense things you should be aware of when choosing products to sell on Amazon. Many people don’t think of these but would be hugely benefitted if they did. Here they are: Smaller products that weigh less than a pound - this keeps your shipping costs and fees lower. Nothing that can be easily broken in shipping or by use (that means electronics among other things). There’s really many more than we can cover in a short paragraph so be sure you take the time to listen to this value packed episode.

You’ve got to know how to research the depth of product markets to sell successfully.

You hear Scott talk about this issue quite often. It’s the role that depth of market plays in discovering if you have indeed found a true opportunity in a particular market. On this episode of the Amazing Seller Scott and his guest, Greg Mercer, go into quite a bit of detail about how each of them does market research, why it’s important, and the pitfalls you can avoid if you do this step the right way. Get ready to take some notes because these guys unpack it all the way!

Once you start ranking on Amazon you’ve got to keep your products near the top.

It’s one thing to enter a new market with your brand new product. It’s an exciting thing when you start to see your product sell. It’s even more exciting when you find your sales pushing your product toward the top of the search rankings. But how can you keep it there? That’s one of the many things Scott Voelker and Greg Mercer talk about on this episode of the Amazing Seller. They’re going to cover reviews, PPC (pay per click), and product sales, in depth. You won’t want to miss this one.

Jungle Scout: One of the best Amazon Private Label research tools out there!

When Scott first started selling on Amazon there was no software available to help with product and market research. He literally created a spreadsheet and tracked things day after day after day to find out what he needed to know. Now there are amazing software solutions that make that same research happen in seconds rather than months, and one of those is Jungle Scout, created by Greg Mercer. On this episode Greg unpacks the details of what Jungle Scout can do and how it works to help you optimize your product selection process - and he gives a discount on the software that listeners to this episode can get. Be sure you listen to find out how you can get that price break!

OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE AMAZING SELLER

[0:25] Scott’s introduction to the podcast! [1:40] An upcoming resource Scott is creating out of this episode and how you can get it! [2:38] Scott’s introduction of Greg Mercer. [3:57] The 10 X 10 X 1 approach - a review… and Greg’s criteria for good products. [5:30] Greg’s newer approaches to product selection. [8:00] How products and accessories can go together beautifully. [9:32] What does it mean when you say, “Depth of Market?” [12:10] Things to watch out for when doing market research. [15:17] Greg’s process when looking at his results in Jungle Scout. [19:21] Assessing what type of sellers you’d be competing against. [22:33] Greg’s current launch strategy for new products: more aggressive. [24:41] How both guys do Pay Per Click for new products. [27:12] The power of the new options in the Amazon pay per click engine. [31:41] Diversifying products: How it makes you different from the competition. [33:53] The issues to be aware of with more expensive products. [35:00] Information about Jungle Scout - Greg’s product. [43:70] Drilling into competitive niches with Jungle Scout. [44:30] New features coming to Jungle Scout soon. [46:53] Why Amazon private label is still a very good opportunity. [47:10] Why the product research phase is truly critical to your success. [50:40] Greg and Scott will be appearing in Miami together at an event.

LINKS MENTIONED

www.TheAmazingSeller.com/56 - previous episode with Greg Mercer www.TheAmazingSeller.com/JungleScout (affliate) Camel, Camel, Camel Google Trends www.KeywordTool.io www.SellersSummit.com - where Greg and Scott will be speaking - May 19-21st, 2016