TAS 093 : How To Build Your eCommerce Store with Steve Chou

Steve Chou has been building his own, private ecommerce stores online for a very long time. He did so way back before the days of Amazon FBA. In this great interaction Scott gets schooled by Steve on why every Amazon seller should consider, at least down the road, setting up shop on their own private ecommerce store. Steve tells the story of how he and his wife did that very thing, how they’ve grown it over the years, and how they’ve even used Amazon’s own system to drive traffic to their private store. You won’t want to miss this.

Why would an Amazon seller want to set up his own ecommerce store?

Steve Chou thinks it’s a must for every Amazon seller to eventually move beyond Amazon to set up their own store. There are many reasons, but two of the greatest are #1 - the ability to create your own promotional content, and #2 - the ability to capture your customer information and follow up on them during and after the sale. He’s found that ability alone to be a significant source of conversions for his products. If you’ve been thinking about setting up your own platform for sales outside of Amazon, don’t miss this episode.

You mean I can use Amazon to drive traffic to my own private ecommerce store?

Yep, that’s exactly right. Steve Chou has been doing it for a while now through what Amazon calls “sponsored ads.” It’s a way you can take advantage of the search traffic Amazon draws in… and it’s not just any search traffic - it’s people who are ready to buy exactly what you’re offering. Listen to Scott’s interview with Steve to find out how Steve sets up these sponsored ads and the kind of traffic and conversions he’s getting from doing so, on this episode of The Amazing Seller.

Have you ever considered creating content to drive people to your products?

Bloggers have been doing this for a long time. It’s that great article, or video, or “how to” lesson that gives great value to the audience and then drives them to purchase the blogger’s product or course. You can do the same thing for your products. Steve Chou and his wife have been doing that for a long time and have found it to be a powerful way to feature their products and get people to check them out. Find out all the details of how Steve does it on this episode.

How to use Pinterest to drive traffic to your products.

It’s becoming more apparent all the time that out of all the social media platforms available today, Pinterest is one of the best at driving traffic to product pages. Why? Because oftentimes people are searching Pinterest for ideas or products to solve a particular problem. What better place to post your product images and posts? In this episode of The Amazing Seller Steve Chou talks about how he uses Pinterest to drive traffic to his products, and he covers some important tips on how TO and how NOT TO use Pinterest. You won’t want to miss this.

OUTLINE OF THIS INTERVIEW EPISODE OF THE AMAZING SELLER

[0:05] Introduction of the topic & today’s guest Steve Chou

[1:07] Scott’s personal update and a meet-up with a TAS meetup group.

[3:14] Your invite to Scott’s live workshops - www.TheAmazingSeller.com/workshop

[4:22] Who is Steve Chou and why he’s able to tell us about creating ecommerce stores.

[5:27] Steve’s story of creating an ecommerce store with a variety of products.

[7:00] Why Amazon sellers might want to consider an external channel (ecommerce store).

[8:15] The path to starting an ecommerce store - Steve’s story using PPC services, keyword research, and product research.

[10:40] What’s the first thing to do to establish an ecommerce store?

[11:00] How to build great content to draw people to the products.

[13:12] How Pinterest has become a marketplace.

[14:10] How Steve personalizes each of his products through his own site.

[15:56] What ads does Steve recommend for beginning ecommerce sites to drive traffic?

[17:03] How to create “sponsored” ads on Amazon that can drive traffic to your external website.

[20:29] How long does it take to set up a quality ecommerce store?

[21:25] Dos and Don’ts of setting up products on your own store.

[22:10] Is it possible to use Amazon to fulfill products sold on your private ecommerce store?

[23:48] What paid traffic options would Steve begin with?

[27:38] Steve’s process for getting product reviews on his private site.

[29:26] Which social platform is best for getting products into the public eye?

[30:56] Steve’s Pinterest strategy for promoting products.

[33:22] How Steve suggests finding a person to handle a Pinterest account for you.

[34:05] Why Steve thinks it’s important to have your own platform, independent of Amazon.

[35:00] The reason Steve began his blog - www.MyWifeQuitHerJob.com

[39:00] Scott’s recap of the conversation and his call to action.

LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

Steve’s website - www.MyWifeQuitHerJob.com

Steve’s podcast - http://mywifequitherjob.com/category/podcast/

Scott’s free workshop - http://www.TheAmazingSeller.com/workshop

www.TheAmazingSeller.com/FB - the TAS Facebook Community