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Michael Michelini joins to talk product launch
- Being public on the launch
- Am in Katmandu in Nepal recording this podcast looking at monks and temples – work anywhere
- Last show on SellerSessions was the failures series episode
Background to new Venture
- Had a break for a while on selling on Amazon
- Got back into Amazon
- Went public for investors, operations, etc
- Got into the Coffee niche and the brand is registered and Sisitano.com
- A couple of $US thousand in sales
- Not where they wanted to be but
- It took 6 months in production from beginning to end
- Launch was 4th July and continuing to optimise the listing
Public with a Product
- Scary to be so public on this product with numbers, etc
- Unwritten rule is that you don’t share the products or the category it’s in
- JS did the jungle sticks and sheep will follow
- They choose products from the course notes (spatulas and garlic presses is there)
- It’s a brave move to be public – people could come into the market and copy
Dip Before Prime Day
- Around July 4th there’s a dip just before Prime Day
- Everyone in BBQ mode on the beach
- Summer is rough to launch a product – depending on if you have a seasonal product (Summer not good for you)
- Didn’t get involved with Prime Day
- Had an auto-campaign with PPC
- Got a warranty system to find longer term brand building
- Did some deep discounts to 40-80% discount with landing page and pixel going into the listing
- Been conservative as want to preserve inventory
Long Game and Prime Day
- Pulled back in the giveaways at the Prime Day as playing the long-game
- Do the launch in the quiet period and build on the organics to capitalise on the premium season
- Started in August and trying to get the order in by Christmas but it didn’t happen
- Get to make more mistakes and learn before the fourth quarter
Ranking – Where did you Start
- Getting some reviews that aren’t ‘verified’ but think they are coming from the giveaways
- All good feedback and improving the listing and product
- Main keyword is in position 40
- Tracked with software to know where the start points are – usually sub-300
- Using PPC and rotating keywords helps lift it
- Using Landing Cube and Quantify Ninja as main tools
- Good to start with a benchmark and know where you are
- Take the top 3 to 4 main keywords and get your VA to track in a spreadsheet
- Got FB paid ads and a small following
- Did a PR release (link direct to the listing)
- Embedding in the blog and are posting each week to drive traffic
External Traffic Reward from Amazon
- Sending external traffic will reward the Amazon algorithm
- Danny used to use PRwire back in 2008
- Think it gives no-follow links so no page auth but get reward from Amazon for external traffic
- Not convinced that this is giving a big advantage
- Using a multi-stage coupon code giveaway (80 to 40%)
- Rotating the codes on Facebook and doing 60 – 80% discounts
- Facebook is a social platform and so the ‘offer’ has to be super compelling – so Danny advises 90% to make it compelling if you don’t want to have to be clever with Facebook ads
- The goal is all about ranking and reach a social audience and disrupt them with a Billboard and get them to way ‘Wow’ I’m going to spend $1 and get a great product
- Using LandingCube and the Storefront URL
- MokaPot is the main keyword
Automated Paid Ads
- Did 2wks auto-campaign for Keywords
- Using BidX tool for PPC management – automated bidding
- Getting good keywords out of the automated search terms
- Spending a lot on discounts and PPC to track to sales velocity
- They are number one paid ad for MokaPod currently
- You just have to go hard and you’ll be negative for a while to launch
Feast or Famine
- Learning and the CEO is from Budapest Hungary
- Feast or Famine in buying stock and digesting in Amazon
Differentiated
- Looking at one massive competitor and trying to go in the middle as there is a gap down to the cheaper products
- Looking at 8-15/day at $25 product – 10-20% of the market for the keyword
- MoQ is 1,000 pieces and reorder in-time for Christmas is a challenge so a bummer
- Long lead time – so hope 1,000 will get it through 4th quarter
- With the giveaways it’s a challenge
- It’s a bundled product and so differentitated
Launching is Harder Now
- Launching a new product is a lot more of a challenge than it was a few years back
- It’s a good thing as Amazon is cleaning up the market places
- Gone into a tough market but with a differentiated market it’s good with the right guidance and strategy
- Danny looks to recoup on shipment 2 or 3 to get there
- Everyone is using the same tools and all look for recoup on the 1st shipment
- If you can cashflow and take a longer view then you’re strategy can pay off
Reviews
- Reviews are tough
- Danny went hard with PPC on his product and got 10 reviews and 3 feedback on a new product
- Michael had a few poor reviews at the start
- Product was public and might have been a competitor
- Had a few 5 stars too now after a few weeks
- Getting a few units out every day now
Not as Prepared as we Thought
- Weren’t as prepared for the launch
- Debate in the team – one person running the show
- Differences with everyone doing it
- Chinese Sellers weren;t intersted
- He saidm She Said in the team too – intersting dynamic
- Paid ads on Amazon adn Facebook
- Coupons and caught a little by surpoise
- First 3 weeks is critical to success
- But others say you can optimise your listing outside of this 3 week window
