Many online FBA “gurus” advocate “flipping” products on
Amazon. In other words, buy in bulk from Chinese wholesalers
or manufacturers and sell for a profit on Amazon. But here’s
the rub: anyone can copy you. Worse still, people with bigger
buying power can negotiate a lower cost-per-unit price, and
are thus able to undercut your price. Furthermore, if you end
up with a bestseller and that product is available “off the shelf”.
Amazon will start selling it. After all, they know what’s selling
well and they will always win the price war.
Unbranded products also sell for less. I know, no one knows
your brand. It’s brand new (excuse the pun). But that doesn’t
really matter. Research has shown people will pay up to a
third more – even when they have never heard of the brand.
It’s amazing what a brand name and a cool logo can do. And
creating a brand is much easier than you think. Philip Knight,
who founded Nike, famously paid Carolyn Davidson just $35 to
design their now-famous Swoosh logo. And, thanks to the
Internet, it’s much easier now.
Branding is especially important if you’re thinking about an
“exit strategy”. Unbranded products are easy to copy, so
what’s your company worth? I would suggest not very much.
Creating a brand will give you far more options down the line,
including the ability to sell your products through offline
channels. And, of course, it will make your company more
valuable if you ever come to sell your business.
In very simple terms, a brand is a name and a logo. That’s the
start point anyway. Down the line, it will become associated
with your products, your advertising and your company
values. But, to start with, you need a name.
Spend time getting this right now. Ignore those who suggest
this can be fixed later. Maybe so, but potentially at a high cost
– for example, reprinting labels, redesigning websites etc. In
terms of starting, think about the kind of products you’re
selling. My friend selling yoga equipment chose the name
“adho” (a yoga pose).
As your brand name gathers traction, it helps with searches
too. Having a unique name allows potential customers to find
your products on Amazon.
Produce a shortlist of names and then invite friends to a focus
group (disguised as a dinner party) to discuss their ideas. The
shortlist was also informed by domain name availability. I’ve
always found www.123-reg.co.uk an excellent website for this
task. It allows backorders too – so should a domain become
available it will automatically purchase it on your behalf.
Once you have decided upon your brand name, you’ll need to
get a logo. Check out https://uk.fiverr.com/if you need a
designer. The advantage of such websites is that they link you
to designers from all over the world. It also allows vou te se
loads of examples of work and pay emerging market prices.
Plus you can sort by “highest rated”. It’s probably worth
getting a number of designs and researching these too. But
don’t over-research – sometimes you need to back your hunch.
n the words of Henry Ford, “If I had asked people what they
wanted, they would have said faster horses
Top tip: You may need a simplified version of your logo for
reproduction purposes.
A-Z of Amazon 