Podcast appearances and mentions of Chris Guthrie

For today's episode, we're diving deep into the intricacies of acquiring and exiting online businesses. Joining us is Chris Guthrie, a seasoned M&A advisor from Quiet Light, a name many of you are already familiar with. Chris has a wealth of experience, having bought and scaled various online businesses, from content sites to e-commerce and SaaS businesses. Chris shares his journey into the world of online business acquisitions, detailing how he started and scaled his ventures. We explore the different types of online business models he prefers and which ones he would choose if he were to acquire them again. Chris provides his insights into due diligence, sharing stories and mistakes from his own experiences to help you avoid common pitfalls. He offers crucial advice for both buyers and sellers, emphasizing the importance of preparation and realistic expectations. They also talked about the common deal structures in online business transactions, discussing financing options, cash down payments, earnouts, holds, and notes. Chris explains how these elements come into play and the need to consider both the seller's and buyer's perspectives. Additionally, they analyze the current state of market multiples and how broader market trends can impact online business valuations. Chris shares his thoughts on the best times to acquire businesses, providing a timely perspective on market conditions. Finally, they discuss the traits of the most successful sellers Chris has encountered in his career, offering you valuable takeaways for maximizing your exit strategy. Tune in for an insightful conversation packed with advice and expert knowledge from Chris Guthrie.     Episode Highlights 02:29 - Chris' journey into buying online businesses 04:00 - Motivation for building online businesses 22:26 - Advice for business buyers 31:22 - Advice for business sellers 34:51 - How to Manage a business Key Takeaways ➥ Managing multiple types of businesses, especially combining e-commerce with content, or SaaS, posed significant challenges due to the need for distinct focus areas like SEO, Amazon, Shopify, and advertising channels. ➥ Higher-value deals might include complex earnout structures, whereas smaller deals often aim for simpler, all-cash transactions to minimize post-sale complications. ➥ Buyers often need guidance on realistic deal structures, particularly understanding the market dynamics and avoiding “no money down” fallacies. About The Guest Chris Guthrie is a sell side online business M&A advisor and broker for Quiet Light. He's bought and scaled his own online businesses, including content sites, e-commerce businesses and SaaS businesses.   Connect with Chris Guthrie ➥ https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopherdavidguthrie/   Resource Links ➥ Sell your business to us here - https://buyingonlinebusinesses.com/sell-your-business/➥ Buying Online Businesses Website - https://buyingonlinebusinesses.com ➥ Download the Due Diligence Framework - https://buyingonlinebusinesses.com/freeresources/ ➥ GoDaddy (Website Hosting & Buying Domains) - https://bit.ly/3YiRkWV ➥ Market Muse (Content Marketing Software) - https://bit.ly/3Me39L0 ➥ Rank Math (WordPress SEO plugin) - https://bit.ly/3Acyjf4

If you're looking to build and sell a 7-figure content site, then you'll want to hear this interview with Chris Guthrie who said goodbye to his 9-5 job at Microsoft and has been earning a living online with the freedom to work from wherever he wants on whatever he wants. Today Chris' online earnings supports his 3 kids, his family and their lifestyle and in this interview, you'll hear: - Why are content sites so popular - What blogs are selling for 6-to-7 figures - When his website income surpassed his day job income - Why it's possible to make $20,000 per month working 15 hours a week Tune in to hear Chris' insights. Then register for our upcoming masterclass to learn the digital skills that started it all at: https://www.ebusinessinstitute.com.au/dip

How to start a business loving your competition? Are you scared by competition? Listen to our interview with Chris Guthrie and learn to love competition. Chris is not interested in businesses without a ton of competition.  Why? Because, that's where the money is. You ask him about affiliate marketing to software development to [...] The post How to Start a Business Loving Your Competition appeared first on Small Business Advice Help For Startups and Entrepreneurs.

This week we are joined by Chris Guthrie, a E-commerce expert. Along with having his own products on amazon, he also helps other sellers grow their business with Airtable and automation.

On this episode of Quiet Light, David Newell talks about when a SaaS business earns a revenue-based multiplier. David is one of our colleagues who just wrote a guide outlining everything he knows about SaaS valuations. Tune in to hear his thoughts on how SaaS businesses have unique needs, the ideal scenario for revenue growth, and which valuation metrics to use when scaling.   Topics: Revenue-based multipliers. What happens when SaaS businesses scale. The ideal scenario for revenue growth. SaaS valuation metrics. Why there is a bias towards monthly plan revenue. Comparing scaling a business to dating. Takeaways from David's guide. Transcription: Joe: I understand you spoke with our colleague David Newell about when a SaaS business becomes a listed at a multiple of revenue instead of multiple of discretion earnings, how'd that go? Mark: Well, there's an interesting dynamic when it comes to SaaS businesses, right? E-commerce is pretty straightforward. We have some pretty good metrics that just show that vast majority of e-commerce businesses will be measured as a multiple of their SDE but SaaS businesses, especially on larger levels, we see transactions happen as a multiple of revenue even in some cases when you have a business that is not turning a profit or is currently EBIDTA zero or close to it. And so there's a big question out there, what are the criteria that allow you to apply a revenue multiplier versus an SDE multiplier to a SaaS business? Obviously, this makes a huge difference, right? I mean, if you're multiplying your revenue by five, that's going to be a much bigger number than multiply SDE by five, or four, or three, or whatever. So SaaS valuations can accelerate incredibly rapidly. I mean, it's breakneck sort of whiplash valuations that happen. So I talked to David; I sat down with David. He had just finished writing a 15,000-word guide that really picks apart everything he knows in SaaS valuations and that's a lot that he knows. And he goes into how do we first make this determination between a revenue-based multiplier versus an SDE multiplier? And then the second question, which is again equally sort of murky if you haven't been doing this as long as David has, is where do you then find the multiplier because the ranges are a bit broader than we see in other sectors. And so he goes over the approach he takes for it and then we started talking about some of the individual metrics as well, which are going to apply to all SaaS companies whether it be revenue based multiplier or SDE multiplier. If you are a geek when it comes to valuation talking this is the podcast for you. It's definitely meaty. We get into it pretty in-depth on this. But if you really enjoy this, take a look check out the guide that he wrote. It's now published. It's going to be available on our website. It's also available for PDF download. Share it. Discuss it. Reach out to David. Chris Guthrie would be another great person on our team to discuss these items with. He knows SaaS extremely well. And frankly, anybody on the team, we've all worked in this space ourselves but really, when it comes to our resident expert, we look to David first and foremost and part of it is because of the guide that he put together here. Joe: Let's go to it. Mark: Hey, David, thanks for coming on the podcast. I know you've done a couple of these before, right? David: I have, yeah. Mark: Well, cool. I'm glad to have you back on and I'm excited to have you on this week because you finally finished, and I shouldn't say finally because it wasn't even expected of you but you put together a very comprehensive guide on valuing a SaaS company. How long is it? David: It's a jargon. I think it's about 15,000 words. We shouldn't say that just in case that thwarts people from reading it. I think we're going to do a distilled down version of it. Mark: It's kind of like a mystery novel, how to value a SaaS guide. You know I wrote the ultimate guide to website value years ago when that was what we were really talking about is valuing websites and I think that was a 25,000-word guide. I started out thinking this should be something I can hammer out in a week and it turned out to not be a week. It was much longer than that. It took a while to put that together. And I know this took me a while to put together but the stuff in here is really an authoritative guide on the valuation principles behind a SaaS company. David: Yeah, it's a strange terrain this SaaS valuation conversation because unlike other business models that everybody's familiar with is not purely an earnings-driven model. It's not all about seller's discretionary earnings. And you see that so much in kind of public markets, they speak about SaaS businesses based on revenue multiples and then obviously in our kind of business brokerage landscape, you see it more around SDE multiples and so there's this kind of big confusion in this cross terrain between both buyers and sellers about what is my SaaS business worth and on the other side of the table is how much should I pay for it. And so there's a surprising amount of similarities in the valuation logic between both but what I wanted to point out was the crucial distinctions between them and why they're there to really help people understand that both buying and selling. Mark: Yeah, and I think this is an interesting conversation because we talk so much about valuations at Quiet Light Brokerage. And I've said in the course I put together on how to sell an online business for six, seven, or eight-figures I spent a lot of time on the valuation side and trying to dispel the myth that the valuation formula creates the value of the company as opposed to the valuation approaches and formulas and methodologies are really a predictive exercise more than anything else. And that really, when you boil it down into kind of a philosophical standpoint, it's really a measurement of expected return on investment for the buyer discounted by risk or mitigated by risk. And so you can have other valuation approaches that are completely valid. I know in the web hosting space, which is where I cut my teeth in the brokerage world, that was a revenue-based multiplier as well, because you had a lot of strategic sort of sales going on. It was typically 10 to 16 months of revenue was the average range that we were seeing so I'm interested to get into this. Because I know when I talked generally to people about valuations, I always have this asterisk of but SaaS companies are different and it's kind of a mystery box. So let's talk a little bit about that right there. We'll start with the revenue-based multipliers. Why are we using revenue with SaaS companies and are all SaaS companies going to be valued on their revenues as opposed to SDE? David: Yeah, that's a great question. You hit the nail on the head with what you said there which is that it comes all down to expected return on the asset. And I think the way to think about it is actually kind of in the life cycle of starting a SaaS business. If you imagine starting as many you do people SaaS businesses out of their bedroom; a lot of entrepreneurs see a problem, decide they didn't like it, wants to code a solution to it, put in their own money into it, then they might bring in a developer to start helping them out and they start putting their own money into start scaling it. They get friends as customers and sooner or later they are 10,000 in MRR or so forth and then they start to scale a little bit beyond that. And so initially you're in this period of scaling often with your own capital. And this is kind of a lot of the businesses that we see in the very early stages; kind of like homemades, bootstraps, sub million dollars in ARR businesses. They can remain focused for a large part on earnings and that's why they get they tend to craft some seller's discretionary earnings-based valuations. A lot of these SaaS businesses, for example, one doing 300,000 ARR might have about a hundred thousand in seller discretionary, slightly more multiple of that. Now, what happens? Typically a SaaS businesses look to scale particularly as they kind of arrive more towards a million in ARR and above is that typically what's the case is quite a lot more infrastructure is needed to be brought in to solve the biggest challenges of SaaS businesses which is churn. And that infrastructure is a lot of sort of customer success, it's a lot of additional development in terms of creating better onboarding, and it's putting a lot more sort of infrastructure around the business to really mature and allow it to scale from a small business into a much, much, much larger one, which can happen very quickly, arguably faster than any other business model. And so what happens it seems to me has been the case is that it has become acceptable and standard within the SaaS establishment to at this kind of sub million and arriving at a million in ARR level be able to say we're going to sacrifice our earnings in the near-term, in the short term in order to now chase absolute scalability in the business. And this is acceptable, more so in SaaS than any other kind of business, largely because we have a recurring revenue model with unit economics that are stable once you have churn in place that allow you to do that race up and scale and then cut back on that expense and immediately just be accruing very, very, very significant profitability in the business. And so the quid pro quo for you, reducing profitability of what was a relatively profitable small SaaS business to a now significantly unprofitable or flat profit business is that you'd have to start chasing revenue growth significantly. And so to your point, Mark, about having this kind of expected rate of return, buyers basically say we'll let you run to EBITDA or EBIDTA 5% margins in order that you're going to start sharing consistently 40% to 50% to 60% year over year growth or higher while still going between a million in ARR to five million in ARR, to 10 million in ARR, and 20 million in ARR and beyond. And so that is really the thinking behind why you get to a revenue-based multiple with businesses because the expectation is that eventually a SaaS business will mature and become extremely profitable. A great example of that is something like Salesforce which is now striking off enormous amounts of cash but for a long period of time before it wasn't. And so a lot of the businesses that you see come to market eventually even IPO still have this same kind of fundamentals and eventually, their hope is that they do become very profitable businesses. So it all kind of descends really back from that and I think that some of the question marks around valuation methodology is where is in this kind of hundred thousand in ARR to three million in ARR level which is, of course, where we do a lot of business and where a lot of other market participants are; people listening to this looking to buy and to sell often are is figuring out where are you in a lifecycle, the life journey of the SaaS business, like what is your aim and what are you trying to achieve? And that really informs what the valuation method is for the business. Mark: So as you said there, and there's a lot in there to unpack but the tradeoff or the requirement if you're going to be running at a low EBIDTA or a low profitability or even zero profitability, and I have seen this, by the way, we get these messages from private equity all the time saying we are actively seeking out X, Y, and Z with these characteristics. And I've talked to private equity that is looking for SaaS companies where they said we are not concerned about the EBITDA, we're not concerned about the profitability, but the expectation there is revenue growth at that. I would imagine, though, that there's got to be some other elements in there as well that; let me back up a little bit, we have the revenue growth, but I'd mentioned the expense structure needs to also look at this as being a growth-driven company where the expenses are being driven mainly towards growth. I can't imagine a scenario where you wouldn't necessarily see that but what happens if the growth is minor? So you have a company who is maybe a 500k ARR and they're growing and they're trying. So they're investing heavily in advertising, but their cost of acquisition has skyrocketed. Or they've invested in a large sales team to do onboarding, but they just have not figured that out yet. At what point can we start to say it's not working or is that a solution or somebody just needs to wait in order to sell the company, how do we start to make that discernment in that kind of squishy middle territory where we don't have the clear revenue growth, but we still have the low EBITA? David: 100%. That's what we call the struggle and there's a lot of SaaS businesses in that exact pocket. And the decision for the management team really is what do we do to grow or do we park this and move on to something else? And the former can involve all kinds of different decisions. Obviously making pivots within the business, like changing terms of software products, customer base, also looking to kind of raised capital, the venture capital or angel just to try and get into different channels or find capital to source it from there. And you more or less, Mark, have to push towards that fabled grace, because that's the only available kind of exit option to you from there. Or you go the other way, which is; and you see there is a lot of businesses we're promising and then they haven't reached the cap in the market or a competitor outcompetes them or management loses interest or whatever, and they start to trail off, go flat, and you end up with what's called zombie SaaS which is a not particularly affectionate side while it's probably still a lovely business. And then the option there is more or less you have to cut back all of that operating expenditure in the business in order to restore some earnings and try and exit at typically a much lower multiple of revenue still, but considerably lower that looks more like a normal of an EBITDA type sale and just cut your strings basically and move on to the next thing. And so many businesses, of course, we all know how hard it is to grow and scale any kind of business are in that struggle and trying to figure out that option. Mark: Yeah, I love going through with people the basic framework that we created of the four pillars of value. You want to mitigate your risk, you want to have good growth, make it easily transferable, and have great documentation. Well, that's second pillar of growth is so easy for us to say, right? You want to have great growth and everyone's thinking, well, yeah, of course, I do. It's a lot harder to do. Let's talk about the ideal scenario here. You have a company that is growing strongly and let's say that you're in that one to three million ARR range and we're seeing that ARR grow rapidly so we can apply a multiple to the revenue here. I know what people are thinking, what sort of multiples can we apply to them? David: Yeah, so this is when we flip into a slightly different structure but with very similar dynamics to how we think about business value at Quiet Light and the way we model multiples but the difference, the departure is the starting point. So whereas we in the private buyer side particularly the earnings businesses, we draw upon the several hundred previous transactions we have. We know where the average multiples are for businesses with certain characteristics in nature and we can call on that data set. To start with the revenue multiples side of things you have to again go find the data set and the data set to pull on is generally the public market. And so the best thing to do to start with is actually go look at like an index of cloud companies; SaaS companies that are publicly traded on Nasdaq and so forth, and use that as the benchmark for that kind of revenue multiple that normal publicly traded SaaS businesses are trading at. And that could be something like 10 times, 11 times forward multiple around probably what it is right now. And then, of course, naturally, that's a multiple that's appropriate for a large publicly listed company so already you're saying like, well, that's not really relevant to my smaller private business. So the first thing you have to do is make a public to private discount on that and so there are varying schools of thoughts around what that kind of discount is. It can be somewhat arbitrary. There's a lot of private equity companies out there that speak about what they do, and they have portfolios of private companies that they pour. The received wisdom is it's anywhere between 25% to 30% immediate haircut for being a private company. So you can come down off that 11 to something like eight, for example, and you have what feels like a large private company SaaS business should be trading at. And then we get more into the territory of what we do Quiet Light and what you're just talking about, Mark, in terms of the different four pillars of the business and you start to adjust based upon where this business is aware of the SaaS business we're talking about is relatively strong or weak compared to businesses of its size and businesses of its nature. So three million in ARR is a great example, you'd actually expect on average businesses at that level and this kind of valuation exercise to be growing probably at something like 50% to 60% year over year because it gets harder and harder to grow faster and faster, obviously, with scale. And so if it was much larger, say like a hundred million, you'd actually reduce it and say the average business at a hundred million ARR would be growing at about 30% year over year. And so already you need to compare what's the revenue growth rate of this business versus the paired average for other similar-sized businesses. And it's again a case of going through all of these different classic criteria that we normally do; revenue growth, churn, lifetime value, diversification, all of this classic operational metrics that go back in kind of normal business logic land and just comparing where does it look like versus businesses of its size and businesses in its same kind of customer segment of category and that begins the adjustment process down until you get to a multiple and that starts to make sense. Mark: Yeah, so I want to touch real quick on just the size of a business in general because I know we experience this across the board with all different types of businesses. And yeah, my alarm bells went off, and let's just start with the publicly traded companies. Because I can hear all of my e-commerce clients saying, well, fantastic; I don't know what Amazon is trading at right now as a multiple of revenue, but I'm sure it's a ridiculous number. David: Yes. Mark: But Amazon is also the largest company in America at this point. Actually, I don't know that for sure. I'm sure they're up there, though. They're top five. So sort of with the publicly traded markets is a starting point but there's a lot of discussions that are going to happen in place. So if we're looking at a publicly-traded company like a Salesforce, as we scale down in terms of revenue down into the seven-figure territory from the nine-figure, eight-figure, seven-figure, the discounts do come in pretty rapidly. Why is it that larger companies earn a higher multiple of either revenue or earnings, in your opinion? David: Well, there's a perception of greater stability with greater size. Additionally, just generally speaking if you were to say a business growing 30% year over year at a hundred million in ARR versus one at 10 million in ARR it's more oppressive to be doing a more valuable; you're creating more value at a hundred million than you are at 10 million and therefore, it's commensurate with so the business is worth a greater multiple. It's much, much, much harder to do so. And you see that very, very clearly if you just go and look at a size-adjusted scale in public markets, at businesses at scale that are growing very quickly, they're the ones that are trading at the highest value and that's why Amazon's ballistic valuation. But it's because it's delivering unbelievable revenue growth for business scale. It's already absolutely huge in size so it is very, very, very impressive. But you're right, you need to start discounting down quite significantly. But it's tempting to be like we're starting so kind of pie in the sky with these public numbers and public multiples like wipe off of there. They are the heartbeat of overall like macro SaaS macro sentiment and like it or not, that is where a lot of sentiment; investment sentiment, think about it like kind of customer confidence. It's kind of like investor confidence really does benchmark from public market tech valuations. Mark: I mean, it makes sense, right? Everything that we're talking about here, any sort of valuation is really a market-based valuation. Anytime we're valuing any asset, whether it be a business or apples, it's based off of market dynamics here. So that part makes sense. I want to dig into the business metrics though that we start to get into in more. The regular as we are characterizing it, the regular valuation metrics that we look at. Within the SaaS world, these are going to be somewhat different anyway from, say, an e-commerce business, right? On an e-commerce business, we're going to be looking at gross profit margins, we're looking at growth, we're taking a look at some qualitative aspects of the products that they're selling such as the intellectual property protections and everything else. What sort of business metrics are we going to look at for a SaaS company, regardless of whether we're looking at it from an SDE valuation viewpoint or a revenue multiplier viewpoint; what are some of the other metrics we want to look at? David: Yeah, it's a great question because it's both actually identical and this is where the commonalities between the two methods are huge which is that it's all very well talking about in a revenue growth way of SaaS businesses but you have to look at what's the quality of that growth. And the key barometer of quality of revenue growth in any SaaS business is churn, average revenue per user, lifetime value, a monthly versus annual plan split, and the gross margins on there. So clearly if you just take the first one, because churn is such a focal point for everybody, if you have a business with an outsized level of churn versus its size and category, then that's a major red flag in terms of the business. You see that quite a lot in terms of Shopify or Amazon plugin type add-ons, where largely because of the type of end-user which on Amazon can turn over quite quickly buyers and sellers come and go there. Those tools can kind of have quite high churn rates. And so it's an interesting one because they often have very fast growth rates in general, like a very sharp revenue growth rate because Amazon is an absolutely enormous space to be in. There's tons of new sellers turning up, signing up for new tools that they're churning away after three to four months. So you have to immediately look at can I appraise this tool that's going 100% year over year growth versus the 15% monthly churn? Because if it stops growing even just a little bit within 12 months, it's going to churn out almost the entire customer base and cut off all the growth. And so you have to look at those two. They're absolutely symbiotic. And it's the same with seller's discretionary earnings type businesses because ultimately that impacts the bottom line as it is with revenue multiple. And then the interesting one is looking at monthly versus annual plan split. Naturally, most SaaS businesses are an amalgamation of both and it's definitely favored and preferred that there's a much stronger bias towards monthly planned revenue if that makes up sort of 85% plus of your overall business. That's perceived as a very good thing. If annual is a bigger proportion of that, that's something of a concern. And that's really just because what you want in SaaS is predictability. That's what everybody loves with recurring revenue. Monthly plan revenue is more predictable than annual planned revenue, which seems psychologically counterintuitive, but it's not when you consider that every single month customers have the opportunity to churn away, whereas with annual planned revenue that only happens once every 12 months. So you have no idea what's going to happen in 12 months' time to a large cohort of any bias. Their whole lives could have changed quite a lot so the data set there is less rich and so it makes it more opaque for bias. And so they actually value that pop business generally lower than monthly occurring revenue. So they are just a few of a couple of the kind of revenue quality metrics that should be really important for both buyers and sellers. Mark: I want to talk about ARP but before that, I'm going to talk about churn and a concept of it. I don't know if you would take this into account an evaluation of an Amazon SaaS business, for example, that is supporting sellers. As you know, David, I have an interest in a dating website online and there's a concept in dating world called the good churn. It's somebody canceling their account because they met somebody. And within the dating world, you want to have good churn even though it does impede growth. I know with the site that I have interest in, the business I'm interested in, we have monthly turnover on 23%, which is massively huge and it does impede growth, but we want to have 23% be made up as much of good churn as possible because when people meet somebody they then talk to each other. So within the Amazon space, do we take that into account or with any sort of support service where you're getting somebody off the ground and they outgrow your product because it served its need, right? That's really the dynamic here. If your SaaS business serves a need that your users no longer need it that would be good churn. Would that be taken into account with that churn number very much or are we really looking more just the throttling on growth and the fact that you're chasing ever-increasing growth numbers with high churn? David: Yeah, it's hardly the latter, because if you think about it, I mean, SaaS valuations, in general, are higher than any other business model. And the reason for that is because for every single unit of revenue you're bringing in you can predict how long it's going to stay with you for and you can't with any other business. And so helping people out for a shorter period of time, even if they're then canceling for good reasons while still brilliant from a customer success standpoint, isn't something that a buyer would attach a higher multiple to. So you kind of want to help people for the longest amount of time to create the most amount of value and that's why I like businesses with very high lifetime values and their churn are generally speaking, the most valuable type of SaaS businesses. So, yeah, you've got yourself a beautiful paradox there Mark with your site. I think in that situation, you just have to turn into a massive marketing spend then. You need to post those numbers all over your website and say people are gleefully canceling because of what we do. Mark: Well, you know it bleeds out into the other metrics, I think. And I wish I could say our 23% was good churn. It's not but it bleeds into be other numbers, right? Because if you have good churn where it trickles into is your cost of acquisition becomes effectively lower. So the more good churn you have, the lower your effective cost of acquisition compared to people that don't have as good of churn because you have more social proof. Now, it may not be a very clear or strong relation, it's more murky but let's talk about ARPU and also a lifetime value of a user. When we're looking at these metrics, how much does taking look at cohorts in terms of time play into that? Because I know Chuck sold a business a while ago, it wasn't directly SaaS. It was sort of SaaS-y in its makeup, which it was pretty much awash for the first 24 months in terms of lifetime value and cost of acquisition. But after that 24 month period, everything was profit on top of that. And I look at that and say that's fantastic. That's great. I get it. But from a buyer's standpoint, the cash requirements for a business like that, especially if you're growing rapidly, becomes a constraint to growth. You have to be able to fund a business with a 24 month period lead time. How much does a cohort analysis play into a valuation? And I would assume kind of the logical conclusion here is the shorter period of time to be able to get from your cost of acquisition to your revenue is more desirable. But is that something that you look at closely? David: Yeah, I mean, from the challenges with LTV in many monthly recurring revenue businesses, is it's moving around so much. I just sold a business just recently where the LTV posted up and profit well is going everywhere from 2,800 to $7,000 month to month. So try marketing a business with that level of variance. So to your point, Mark, you do have to look at cohort analysis, I think to go back and be like, what's the kind of longer-term trend in the business here? Like what's actually evolving because that business is a great example, the same phenomena you're talking about which for two years, more or less, didn't really make any money and then started to hockey stick. Not so much because the revenue growth was absolutely phenomenal it's just because the cost base no longer needed to go up anymore to substantiate it. They kind of refined the products enough, spent enough on development, finally figured out the marketing channels, stopped spending really a lot of both and then it just started to fly. And that is the case in point for so many SaaS businesses, which is that it's kind of like swimming into the dock a bit for an indefinite period of time until you do hear those unique economics that makes sense. And it just flies from that point in many cases, anyway. Mark: I think that the whole world of trying to value SaaS companies, especially in this murky range, is a fascinating exercise. When we do an e-commerce valuation, so much of it is cut and dry and I think part of that is just due to the volume that's out there. It's also the nature of these e-commerce businesses as you buy an asset and you turn it around and you're selling it so your profit becomes kind of immediate as opposed to the longer periods of baking and growth with the SaaS company for the long term, which makes it more of a complex exercise. So let's talk a little bit about the guide. 15,000 words, you talked a lot about this idea of moving over to the revenue-based multiplier. I would imagine that there are some examples. And we joked about this before we started recording, I haven't seen the guide yet and reviewed it so I'm going to be speaking a little bit and guessing. I'm assuming that you have some examples in here and other information. Tell us a little bit about what's in the guide and what people could take away from it. David: Yeah, so the guide really breaks down how to do the traditional SDE approach valuation and the revenue approach valuation, and most importantly, how to discern the difference between case studies where you should do one or the other. And I kind of put a four-part test in there which is really the size test. Is it or around or above the million dollars in ARR level? The next thing we look at is where's the revenue growth trending towards, is it showing these kind of fundamentals we're talking about 40% plus year over year growth? The next thing is looking at is this still a business that's kind of a single owner-operator in a relatively thin personnel business, or is it starting to staff up with customer success, starting to wrap around some significant infrastructure to enable it to start going from one to 10 million dollars? That's a really important kind of qualitative factor. And then the last one, of course, is churn, because in reality smaller apps, generally speaking, have higher churn rates. So you'd expect to be seeing kind of an over tuned 4% to 9% in monthly churn in immature let's say, and to the immature SaaS apps. And as you start to get up to this million in ARR level you'd like to see that really dropped below 4% monthly churn. That's the big thing, because churn, as every SaaS business more or less in the world will tell you is the hardest problem to solve for because it is the ultimate barometer of whether people think you're creating enough value to not want to churn out and cancel. And so the more value you're creating, the more helpful you are to people, the less they're going to churn. And that's ultimately what anybody wants to pay for in any business. And so it being the most difficult problem to solve for makes it the most valuable one for a buyer to want to buy. So the lower the churn, generally speaking, the higher the value of the business all else being the same. So those are some of the key distinction points. And then, of course, I'm aware that there's both sellers and buyers looking at it. It's really useful information for both sides to see. Buyers are looking to buy to grow up and scale, sellers are looking to increase the multiples, everybody wants to increase value so I put in a bunch of additional kind of growth value; what I call value-centric growth levers. And what I meant by that is like what essentially the top three things that you can do that will most dramatically impact the most part of the business right away beyond just getting more growth which, of course, always helps. But like specifically one of the things that we've seen over the years in Quiet Light selling businesses, one of the things that we know dramatically increase the multiples of businesses. So I shared some of those in the guide as well for both buyers and sellers to look at. Mark: So if we want to just be trite, we can say if you want to get a great valuation, grow your business or reduce the churn, right? David: Yeah. Mark: All right, the guide is going to be available on the website. We will include links, obviously, in the podcast. You're going to be seeing some emails from us about the guide. We'll also have a PDF downloadable version of the guide. And of course, if anybody has questions about the valuation of your SaaS company and where you fall or questions, I'm sure David would be more than happy to answer any questions about this as well. David: Absolutely. Mark: David@quietlightbrokerage.com. David, thanks for coming on and enlightening me a little bit on this. And it's a complex topic, its super interesting, though. You know, I've been doing this for 14 years now, and it's sort of refreshing to look at different types of companies, different approaches to the same problem, and seeing where we can get some variation. So this is absolutely fascinating to talk about it and I'm looking forward to reading it, which I should have access to it. I'll be reading it here soon. David: My pleasure. Mark: Thanks David.   Resources: David's Article About SaaS Valuation Quiet Light Podcast@quietlightbrokerage.com

Today I had the pleasure of speaking with the general manager of Delta 9 Systems, Chris Guthrie.Let’s dive into Chris’s story of how to take your cannabis business to a higher level. Let’s grow with confidence! Things you will learn in this episode:[00:01 - 16:32] How to Stop Thinking Like Growers and Start Thinking Like A Manufacturer I talk about a little bit of Chris’s background Chris and I talk about the things you need to consider when getting into the cannabis industry [16:33 - 28:46] How to Navigate Your Cannabis Business Chris talks about the processes that you need to learn to navigate the cannabis industry[28:47 - 38:26] Manufacturing Mindset and the Importance of Transparency Do you want to earn $70 billion? Then you better listen as Chris and I share valuable insight on how to optimize your workflow to get into the cannabis industry[38:27 - 49:48] The Pain Points and Secrets to Scale Your Cannabis Business Chris and I share the pain points of how you navigate labeling [49:49 - 58:04] Different Ways of Creating LabelsChris talks about the different ways of how labels are createdChris gives valuable advice about how to be comfortable with the uncomfortable[58:05 - 1:00:02] Closing Segment How can people follow or connect with you?See below for social links.Final words from me Resources Mentioned: AveryTweetable Quotes: “My main focus is to get growers to stop thinking like growers and start thinking like manufacturers.” - Chris Guthrie “Be comfortable with the uncomfortable.” - Shayda Torabi You can connect with Chris on LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, or visit their website https://www.delta9systems.com/. Listen to his podcast, A High-Level Conversation. SPONSORSHIP is brought to you by Restart CBD. Check them out for your CBD needs!LEAVE A REVIEW + help someone who wants to join me for episodes featuring some serious cannabis industry by sharing this episode or click here to listen to our previous episodes. You can listen to my podcast on Spotify, Stitcher, Buzzsprout, iTunes. For anyone who is looking for some creative inspiration in a budding industry, connect with me on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, Youtube, or visit my website https://theshaydatorabi.com/tobeblunt/ and my website https://theshaydatorabi.com/. You can listen to my podcast on Spotify, Stitcher,

Today I’m happy to have my buddy Chris Guthrie back on the show. Now a lot has changed since I last interviewed him in episode 53. For one thing, he’s bought and sold a bunch of businesses in the past 4 years and he recently joined Quiet Light Brokerage as well. So today, we’re going to break down Chris’s process on how he selects businesses to buy. What You’ll Learn Where to look for potential deals and how to find them The typical multiples for different types of online businesses How to vet good companies to buy Common mistakes when […] The post 299: How To Buy An Online Business The Right Way With Chris Guthrie appeared first on MyWifeQuitHerJob.com.

Dana and Mike breakdown the Court Case in 1996's A Time To Kill. Help support this show by going to www.patreon.com/howisthismovie Thank you to all of our Patreon Supporters: Matty Fek, Brian Hughes, DR B., Louis McCoy, Paul Noble, Eamonn Sullivan, Carmelita Valdez McKoy, Scott Croco, Richard Sternberg, Dan Maloney, Thomas Reilly, George Alston, Alicia Friend, Chris Sephton, Ashley Blanco, Jerry kowalski, Damien Roberts, Jay Baca, Adam Riske, Jeff Paulson, Vanessa Gibson, Simon Dix, Graeme Archibald, Jay Skipworth, Just Be You Podcast, Robert Douglass, David Kateeb, Ryan V., Charles Albright, Shane Cooper-Wilson, Apple WatchCast, Jarret Ruminski, Kevin Bechaz, Natalia D'Amico, Nicholas, Brian Alford, Ben Croker, Brian Kiser, Gabe Walters, Dani Flynn, Michael S., Tara Buxton, Thom Kuo, Sean Duffy, Heidar Hansson, Alistair Stewart, Chris Guthrie, Jas & Daisy, Mike F.L., Matt M., Sean Johnson, Timm Kaufmann, Nicholas Prohoroff, Donald Graham, Andrea Allen, Ashley S., C.W. Walker. For one time donations go to https://www.paypal.me/DanaBuckler Mike's Twitter : www.twitter.com/hibachijustice www.twitter.com/Danabucklershow www.facebook.com/howisthismovie hitmpodcast@gmail.com Thedanabucklershow@gmail.com www.hitmpodcast.podomatic.com

Top mistakes of affiliates, buyer intent, and the authentic use of affiliate links with Chris Guthrie. ----- Welcome to episode 176 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Chris Guthrie about making affiliate marketing work for you. Affiliate Marketing for Bloggers This is the greatest time of year. No, not because of the holidays…because it’s gift guide season! Joking aside, gift guides are just one of the many ways that you can make affiliate marketing work for you, and that’s exactly why Chris is here. He’s sharing some unique strategies for affiliate marketing, and he chats about important keywords for affiliate marketing, optimization, and more. If you’re looking for ways to up your affiliate income game, this episode is for you! In this episode, Chris shares: Why he started product review sites Why buyer intent is important and how to create content around it Why keywords like “best” and “top” are helpful for affiliate marketing The biggest mistakes affiliates make How you can authentically use affiliate links How you can win an optimization session with Chris Resources: SEMrush Ahrefs Top 7 Tips I Used to Make $41,438.42 in 2009 with Amazon Associates Amazon Associates Program Fee Schedule EasyAzon Amazon OneLink Up Fuel Follow Chris on Twitter If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com. Thanks to our Reviewer of the Week, Tieghan from Half Baked Harvest! If you’d like to be featured, leave a review for us on iTunes and include your name and blog name in the review.

Have you heard that Amazon has made some changes with feedback and reviews? How will it impact your business? Are you prepared to adapt to the new changes? On this episode of The Amazing Seller, you’ll hear from Scott as he welcomes his friend and guest, Chris Guthrie. In his conversation with Scott, Chris explains how this new Amazon change will impact sellers like you, why you should check out Salesbacker, the value of learning from customer feedback, and so much more. Don’t miss a minute of this informative and engaging episode! Amazon’s new email policy. What exactly is happening with Amazon’s recent change regarding follow up emails and reviews? Amazon came out saying that sellers are allowed to send one email per order to request a customer review. What you need to know about this is, if you have automated emails that follow up with your buyers, you need to make sure that no more than one of those emails is requesting a review. It doesn’t say that you are limited to just one email per order, just one email regarding a review per order. To get the full break down on this new change and how you can adjust your approach accordingly, make sure to listen to this episode of The Amazing Seller! Why you should check out, Salesbacker. Let’s face it, as your ecommerce business continues to grow, manually following up with your customers is going to increase from a small chore to a part-time job! What if there was a way to automate your follow up process so you could free up your time to focus on other areas of your business? That’s where Chris Gutherie and his team at Salesbacker come in! Salesbacker is designed to help ecommerce sellers get more product reviews and seller feedback ratings. To hear exactly how you can benefit from using a service like Salesbacker, listen to this episode of The Amazing Seller featuring Salesbacker co-founder, Chris Guthrie! Learn from customer feedback! When was the last time you took a customer’s feedback to heart? It can be a challenging thing to do! If you take a look at some of the most successful business leaders in the last twenty-five years, you’ll find that most of them relished the opportunity to learn from critical feedback. What will your approach be, will you embrace the critique or will you ignore it? Don’t fall for the easy way out! Press into the feedback you receive and use it as fuel to make a better product and win more loyal customers! Listen to this episode of The Amazing Seller as Scott expands on this important topic and much more! Lead with high-quality customer service. Think back to the last time you were impressed as a customer, either by the product or by the service that was provided. How did that experience make you feel a consumer? What can you do as a seller to elicit that response from your customers? On this episode of The Amazing Seller, you’ll hear from Scott as he breaks down why customer service is an important component of a thriving and growing brand. You don’t want to neglect or take this aspect of business ownership for granted! Learn from Scott’s perspective and find out what to do and what not to do when it comes to taking care of your customers! OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE AMAZING SELLER [0:03] Scott’s introduction to this episode of the podcast! [0:40] Scott welcomes his guest, Chris Guthrie. [2:30] Chris talks about a recent update to Amazon’s TOS regarding emailing customers. [10:00] Why you should check out Salesbacker. [12:15] The value of learning from buyer feedback. [15:00] How to create the best follow up method. [17:30] Why it’s important to customize follow up emails. [21:30] Embrace the change, don’t be afraid of it! [24:30] Closing thoughts from Scott. RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE www.theamazingseller.com/salesbacker

Brad Wayland may be the only QLB broker that was asked to join our team. Others amy dispute that, but they were not interviewed today, so they don't have a voice! Brad has been with Quiet Light Brokerage for less than a year now, and has already established himself as an honest, hardworking and driven entrepreneur and broker. Prior to joining Quiet Light, Brad spent his time focused on SEO for a custom t-shirt firm (Blue Cotton) where he is a partner. From there Brad built a portfolio of content & affiliate sites and eventually sold them to a private equity firm in 2015. In all, Brad completed 30 transactions between 2010 and 2016. Mostly as a buyer, with four sold. Brad learned quickly how to find the right opportunities and work out a deal that made sense for both the seller and himself. And he gained a reputation as the person to sell to, where sellers reached out to him to sell their business. Episode Highlights: [3:22] Who is Brad Wayland? [8:10] Why is the custom t-shirt business the most difficult ecommerce niche? [8:40] Buying and building a portfolio of content sites. [11:15] Wall street style negotiations, or nice guy everyone is happy? [11:45] Name dropping. Yep, Brad met Warren Buffett. [13:50] How to implement economies of scale. [14:45] Outsourcing and keeping things simple, streamlined and with little effort. [16:10] How Brad set up the corporate structure(s). [17:00] How to work with investors and set up a win/win. [19:40] Why having investors can turn pretty uncomfortable, quickly. [20:30] Brad's recommendation on deal structure for investors. [23:10] What interest rate do you pay investors? [23:30] How the multiple of SDE changes with larger net numbers. [27:15] Brad's view of PE monies and what's happening in the industry [28:40] Google “freshness” is critical to long term content portfolio success. [29:50] Content multiples are strong, the nich is hot and buyers are in abundance. [30:30] QLB closes a content site for just under $9,000,000 [32:30] Bryan @ QLB has a supplement business under LOI for $18,000,000. [33:55] The worst conversations we have as brokers are… [35:35] Near death accident: Wayland Falls – the newly named mountain in North Carolina. Transcription: Joe: So Mark the more we bring on brokers here at Quiet Light the less I feel like I've achieved anything in my life. I think you and I are just a couple of slackers compared to the people that have joined the company. Mark: You know I feel the exact same way. We were at the capitalism.com just a few weeks ago and I was standing next to Walker, you know the last picture he sent me was of him in the lineup with Bill Nye the Science Guy right next to him. And he's casually mentioning over a dinner about the different documentaries he's been a part of and all that right? But it goes for every single person on the team. Amanda, when we were talking to her there and I was just consistently feeling like boy I need to get my butt in gear. Joe: Yeah I don't try to have in-depth conversations with Amanda about business because I just feel stupid. Mark: Right, I mean she just starts going off and you're like oh okay I … everything I thought I knew yeah it could pale as in comparison. Brad though is one of those guys and I remember the first time we did a companywide call; we do this once in a while with Quiet Light Brokerage because we're all over the world. All over the country but all over the world and so I don't know maybe once a quarter we have a companywide Zoom conference call where we can see everybody and there was Brad on top … in his office overlooking his factory floor. And I think everyone was just kind of like oh this guy has actually done and accomplished some real things. Joe: Yeah Jason was calling from his kitchen. Amanda was calling from a car. Chuck was from home. I was from home. You, of course, have to get out of your house because you have got a basketball team and a half in your house … well, maybe not that much I exaggerated. I love to exaggerate about the number of kids you have by the way. Mark: Hey it changed since the last time by the way. We've had like four more kids. It's attractive to … you know and it's hard to- Joe: Completely different podcast right there. Mark: But Brad was somewhere in the world. We have no idea. I think he was in Cuba or Costa Rica or something. Joe: Oh right he's always somewhere else, some other exotic location. But yeah Brad is an impressive guy. A very low key but man he's sharp. He talks about his history, talks about what he did at the Blue Cotton T-shirt company. It takes 22 hands to make one t-shirt. It gets touched 22 two times but he stepped in, focused on SEO, and that company blew up after a couple years of him being there. But that's not really what the podcast is about. It's about him and his experience but I'd really focused in on his content portfolio. At one point while running … or while being a partner at blue cotton he built a small little multimillion dollar content portfolio on the side and eventually sold it. And he outsourced everything. He had a reasonably low workload and he used initially other people's money. You have to listen to find out whose money he used. It's kind of interesting and fun but he did very well. And he talks about that approach and I think it's something that any listener can get something out of it in terms of whether they're building their own portfolio of physical products companies, drop ship companies, SaaS companies, or content companies. And of course get to know Brad along the way as well which is kind of the purpose of the podcast. But I think there's so much more to it than just getting to know Brad Wayland. Mark: Yeah I think one of the things I love about this company is it seems like everybody that we bring on just seems to up the ante as far as their qualifications. I mean two or three years from now we're going to have Elon Musk asking us for a job. Joe: Okay, got to be very sad for all the investors of Tesla, sorry folks. Mark: I don't know maybe they'll kick him up and who knows. All right enough of me talking, enough of you talking, let's listen to Brad. Joe: Hey folks it's Joe at Quiet Light Brokerage and today we have one of our very own on the podcast with us. Now don't get bored he actually has a life time of entrepreneurial experience. He's bought and sold many businesses. He's kind of a big deal. I think he bought and sold more than I have for sure; probably more than most of us. His name is Brad, most of you folks listening know who he is. Brad Wayland welcome to the Quiet Light Podcast. Brad: Hey Joe thanks for having me on. Joe: How are you doing? Brad: I'm doing well. Joe: Are you ready to tell all of these people everything about you? Brad: I'm ready to tell them but I would contest your point that I'm kind of a big deal. In fact, I was on another podcast with Chris Guthrie that you had on the Quiet Light Podcast a couple of months ago and several years ago. He did an intro and he said most of you probably don't know Brad Wayland. He's what I call a silent baller. Am I right? All right well- Joe: He subscribes to HBO there. Brad: Yeah I would call myself pretty well unknown. But I have had a lot of experience and I hope that I can share some things today that will help our listeners. Joe: Well you are humble. There is that and you're part of the Quiet Light team because of that vast amount of experience that you do have. And you're one of the few … actually, maybe the only one where Mark actually said “hey maybe you should do this” versus the rest of us which reached out to Mark and said “hey can we do this?” that's right isn't it, Mark asked you to join the team? Brad: Well there's different versions of that story but I specifically remember that I asked Mark. I knew Chuck from the buying and selling world so I kind of made a joke at Mark about [inaudible 00:06:41.6] Chuck on I guess if things don't go well on the buying and selling world you might end up doing some brokering. And he was like I think you might be interested in doing some brokering with Quiet Light and that's where the conversation kind of started. And then over about a six month period he kind of showed me the Quiet Light way and I started getting more and more interested. And I really enjoyed my time at Quiet Light so far, it's good for people. And really every day when we get on the phone calls with buyers and sellers I'm just blown away by how impressed they are with the team we have at Quiet Light. Just the knowledge is there, its entrepreneurs. I tell everybody every day, its entrepreneur led. These are people that have bought, sold, built, operated in through hard times so I really do enjoy it. And I think brokers sometimes have like a little bit of a stigma attached to them. And I think that we are kind of definitely leading the way in kind of changing that. Because I find that people really look at Quiet Light as a breath of fresh air. Joe: Yeah I would have to agree. I was just at Brand Builder Summit down at Austin and really for the first time in a long time, I mean I started in 2012 the broker stigma had an icky feel to it. You and I have been self-employed for years … decades probably and people are starting to reach out to brokers for the experience and expertise that we do have. So it's good but let's talk about your experience and expertise. Who the heck are you? Tell us about your entrepreneurial history and when you started? Kind of how many things you bought so on and so forth. Brad: I started having some interest in the internet world around 2003 and I had graduated from college with a finance degree and was working as an accountant for a publicly traded company. And I really hated the work and actually thought you know what I'm going to get fired from this job before I can find another job because I felt like I was doing such a poor job. I just wasn't really built for the check in to your cubicle at 8 AM and checks out at 5 PM. I needed something a little more challenging for me and maybe a little less structured. And so I was thinking I would go into financial planning because I had a degree in it and had an offer. And a couple of friends of mine said “Hey would you like to come on and work on some business development for us in our t-shirt company?” And they had just crossed a million in sales and they have launched a website and it's called Blue Cotton. And so I came on and quickly I became enamored with search engine optimization and spent a lot of time trying to figure it out. And honestly I fumbled it around like four years and even to the point where I think they thought does this guy have any idea what he's doing at all? But around 2005, I started realizing what we needed to do and that was rebuild the site. It had not been built where it could really ever rank the way that certain things were structured and basically the site was just a giant image. So we rebuilt it. It took two years to rebuild it and when we launched it we were on the front page of Gizmodo within 24 hours from just people finding it. And back then there was- Joe: Gizmodo, what the heck is Gizmodo? Brad: It's a popular tech blog. I'm sure you probably heard of it. Joe: Clearly I haven't, so thank you. Brad: Well it crashed the site. And so that first day we launched it [inaudible 00:10:02.2] spent two years working on this project, it's never going to do anything. And that morning we got a phone call from the developers, our phones are ringing off the hook and they said something's going on. There's tons of traffic on the site. Back then you didn't even have Google analytics. We were paying for index tools back then. And so they … Gizmodo crashed the site, we had something like five million people trying to get to the site and it couldn't happen. Joe: Wow. Brad: You know it was just some crazy situation and there was no social media. So a lot of the traffic back then went through these popular blogs. That's how people … they have their RSS readers on their desktop and they would go through and read their articles and stuff. So they did that and then we had built a design studio where people would create their t-shirts in Flash. And a month later Adobe awarded us the site of the day which didn't crash site but it gave us a page rank 9 of 10 link from Adobe's website. Joe: Wow. Brad: Adobe was the most … at the time Adobe was the most went to website in the world. And the combination of Gizmodo … well because of Acrobat and I mean think of all the click here is that you have for Flash, for PDF reader, for all those things. It had tons of links coming in. And so the combination of those two things propelled us and we went on a crazy tier of growth. It grew up 50% a year for nine years on average. Joe: Woah, we'll let the listeners do the math on that unless you're going to tell us. 50% percent a year for nine years and you wouldn't want to know. Brad: Well we went … we grew from … I mean we were small. We were like a million dollars in sales but that ride took us from like, it probably took us to about seven million. I still own my equity in that company. I didn't start that way. We kind of after the web kind of took over the two owners came to me and said hey 85% of our revenue is coming through this thing you've helped us work on so we need to come up with an arrangement here. So we ended up doing that in 2008 and today Blue Cotton is still a thriving business. It's got … we're, I would call us a medium sized business now. We'll be considered a low eight figure business in terms of revenue. We've got 125 employees, 110,000 square feet of production capabilities which one I'm using all of that now. We use about 55,000 [inaudible 00:12:27.3]. So I did that and just to kind of quickly summarize that when you're in the custom t-shirt world you are making money in the most difficult way possible. A custom t-shirt has to be touched by about 20 people before it goes out the door. And if you order one for your family reunion then it's got Joe Valley's Family Reunion 2018, it's time sensitive. You've got a specific idea and you don't want to be the guy that ordered them and your family says “Man, Joe these are awful. You did a terrible job designing them.” So there's a lot of anxiety in the purchase and so I became pretty interested in content. And around 2010 a friend of mine who was … is a pretty big name in the vector space, like image vectors, he was looking at a blog for sale and it was on Flippa. And he … it was it was a $50,000 purchase price and he said you know what it's only worth 25 grand to me in high five. Man, that thing has content and ads like that's the most amazing business model I've ever seen. You don't have to do anything. Joe: Especially compared to 22 hands per t-shirt. Brad: Right. So I ended up buying that site for $50,000. And that started a new trajectory for me. From 2010 I started getting heavily involved into content and affiliate and just bought and sold a lot of stuff from 2010 and 2015. 2015 I divested a lot of it up to private equity but the- Joe: Can you ballpark how many you bought and sold in that time period? Brad: Yeah so I did 30 transactions between 2010 and 2016 and most of it was buying. I had basically four sales everything else was purchase. I kind of quickly … the space was the web design space so the blog that I bought … economy was kind of in the tank in 2010 and so the blog that I bought I quickly made my money back on it. It's a $50,000 purchase and I made the money back in like 10 months. And I thought this is like too good to be true. So I started kind of keeping my eyes open for opportunities and found another one that was for sale and overpaid for it compared to what I had done. So I paid 72,000 for the second one and it was starting on that same trajectory but after those first two, economy was really not doing well and I started having people reach out to me. And so I had a guy reach out and say hey I hear you're the guy that buys web design sites, you've bought this one and this one would you want to buy mine while I was tapped down on cash. I had spent all my kind of extra money that I had to kind of do something like that with and so I told him you know what I'll give you about 80% of what you made in the last year but that's the best I can do and I can do it today. Joe: And they said? Brad: And he said I'll take it. Joe: So let's talk about that on … just for a moment because you've got experience, I mean you bought 30 businesses, 30 transactions over the last several years. Was your process New York Wall Street walls to the wall top negotiating or was it nice guy that really likes you and you built a relationship and you made it work both in the end? Brad: I'm probably me there. I'm a quick decision maker. When I was in … when I graduated from college I had the opportunity to meet Warren Buffet at a finance event that went on in my hometown here at Bowling Green. And Warren Buffet said that he plays bridge, and he drinks diet Coke, and he takes 13 phone calls a day, and he doesn't have a computer in his office and one of the questions was how do you evaluate companies? He had bought Fruit Of The Loom which is why he was in town and they said how do you evaluate it? And he said honestly I don't spend a lot of time on it. I go with my gut. I look at the few things that I think I have but I usually make a decision within a matter of hours about whether or not I want to buy something, the price, everything which is not the way M&A is done. Joe: Wow. Brad: I know. He's a great capitalist in terms of what he does and that's not me. So I'm not trying to embarrass Warren Buffet but there is one element that is like me and that is I don't waste time. I like to put deals together. I'm not very patient. And that kind of benefited me in the buying and selling world. So I did things very unconventional. Like my transactions, I would never use escrow. I would try to do it as fast as possible, meet them in person, come up with an arrangement of I'm going to wire half here and then you're going to transfer this. Or I'm going to wire it all you're going to transfer these things at the same time. I just did a lot of things that weren't kind of the norms because I'm just not very patient. I kind of wanted to get my hands on it that second. I didn't want to wait 60 days for things to pan out. Joe: So no long drawn out contract negotiations on asset purchase agreements or SBA deals anything like that? Brad: No. Joe: Pretty simple. Brad: And I would say that I focused less on making sure I got this exact price that I wanted at that exact multiple that I wanted. And I focused more on trying to find things that I knew I could immediately do something with. When I got into the design space I don't know anything about design. In Blue Cotton, we have nine designers that work there. I don't know anything about it. I don't know anything about web design really. I know I can tell you some names of like what post would be like but I know nothing. If you put me inside one of those Adobe programs I'm totally lost, I know nothing about it. But what I did learn pretty quickly is that there are some economies of scale to having things that are alike each other. And so when I had one blog and an advertiser would come through it was like what would happen if I had five of these blogs? Or what I could do is I could leverage the advertiser for five times the amount and have the same amount of contact. And so I did a lot of that and I did it on the affiliate side. You know I couldn't negotiate better affiliate deals for my company because I would say well here's all the traffic I have in total and they would look at me and be like oh well if you've got that much then we want to do this size e-mail send or we want to do this size add by and so I started to feel that … and a lot of the … so about 15 of my 26 purchases were in the design space. Joe: And did you have writers that were consistently focused on the design space, outsource VA's, or did you do it all yourself? Brad: Yeah so in the design space there's a lot of writers available. You go to some of the popular sites like Smashing Mag or some of these other big names. You'll see a new name every day. And so I again I kind of always try to structure things in a way where I didn't have to spend a whole lot of time on them. So you know one of the things that I did is I found writers that were okay at being paid once a month because I didn't want to be jumping into PayPal 15 times a month to pay writers. So I found writers that could go across several sites that wanted to do like a substantial amount of work. And so I'd have four or five of them and then at the end of the month, I would just one time pay everybody for all their posts. I found people that knew what I wanted instead of me having to review every single post I found people and I was like okay you did these three posts for me this is exactly what I want, go down that road. Some of them would send me like here's what I'm thinking about doing this month, some of them were just like I know what he wants and they would just do it. And I just always try to streamline things to a … the most hands off as possible. I did not want to hire people to support the network. I didn't want to … I wanted to keep it very like the opposite of the teacher business. I wanted it to be something that I could do a lot with a little time. Joe: Did you put all 30 of the properties or 26 when you sold four off, did you put them all in one LOC did you have them separate? How did that work out? Brad: Well I had to … we hadn't gotten into how I built the portfolio so I will tell you that I quickly ran out of my own cash and had to start looking for help. So I did end up having three different LOCs total and that was because of the way I had to go find capital for the deals. Joe: Okay. Brad: And then I kind of got tired of that and so I basically rolled all of those partners up and blown and got them out and took everything over 100%. And you know the thing is when you're … there's guys that it was their pockets that are out there raising money and I had a conversation with one of our … someone who's buying a property from us yesterday about it. When you're trying to raise money from people instead of going out and asking for everything you think they could possibly muster up one of the best ways to convince people that you give them good returns on their money is to do something good with some … with a small amount of money, something that you know is not a big deal to them. And I didn't really do that on purpose. It's just that my deal started out kind of small. I started around this $50,000 range and by the time I was done I wasn't interested in $50,000 transactions. I didn't do anything that was all that large but I did a couple of three hundreds. I did two $500,000 transactions. And the thing about those transactions is I put that money together in a few days and it wasn't coming out of my bank account. So I had people that believed in what I was doing and I could literally pick up a fund and say hey I've got this opportunity and they would say I'm in. Joe: For those that are listening that have portfolio folks that might do that but for those folks that are investing that haven't ever done it before are they getting equity or are they getting return on investment and how quickly do you start paying them back? Brad: Yes. So the way that I was kind of pitched it I didn't have anybody that I was connected to that was like used to investing in tech … so I'm talking about people that have some extra income or extra savings but they're not people that were like highly technical. So, my parents, you know the first people I went to were my parents and I said “Hey would you guys want to invest a little bit of your money into an idea?” And they said, “Sure, what's the terms?” Well, my terms were terrible for me in my opinion. I said well if you'll put up the money I'll give you 50%. That's where I started. Joe: Oh. Brad: And I talked to someone yesterday he said that that was absolutely ridiculous. They are like you gave them 50%? I was like well I didn't have … I wasn't going to be able to buy it [inaudible 00:22:40.7]. Joe: They could praise you so that … you know they ultimately lost money on the flunk transaction called Brad Wayland. Brad: Still that's true. There are some things in our past, there's some car situations and things like that but it definitely cost them some money and a hard day. But I started with them and … but I became concerned also about … oh wait a second, they're willing to put a lot into this after we started going. They're willing to put more into this and I started thinking I don't really want to be responsible for my own livelihood and know that I could potentially tank theirs. Joe: Right. Brad: So I started to get kind of concerned about that. And they didn't have unlimited funds anyway. But around that time I started looking to partner with other folks and I partnered with some people that I didn't know as well as my parents. So people that had told me like hey I want to get in and my relative over here is willing to invest in me. So I did that kind of deal and I became pretty uncomfortable with those pretty quick. And the reason why is because when you're working with your parents or if you're working with a close friend you kind of know we're not going to end up in a courtroom somewhere. Joe: Right. Brad: You know that that's not going to happen. You know now you could ruin your relationship or you could have that little mark on your relationship where you're like well remember that time when I lost like $400,000 of your money? Sorry about that. You know like that's not a good situation. But I started getting uncomfortable with having partners at all in the space when I took on partners I didn't know. Joe: So how did you determine … you know once you've got beyond that experimental stage and your relatives and friends of relatives and giving them too much, what would you recommend to somebody that's listening that wants to build a portfolio of sites? Is getting money from people are not used to investing? What would you say? Look if I were to do it all over again with what I know I'd probably offer them X, Y, Z, and pay them how often? Can you summarize what you know? Brad: Yeah. So if I could do it all over again I probably would do it the same way. I understand that giving up 50% sounds like … I don't know if that sounds like a lot or not. One guy I talked to yesterday said yeah it sounds like a lot. It probably was a lot. They weren't doing anything. And I was … you asked a minute ago were they getting paid? If I took a check they got a check. And I was looking for cash flow because I wanted to build up and be able to go buy more and do things. So I wanted to realize real gains and kind of do something with them. So I would give a lot early but I would structure the agreements to where you control the situation. And that is one thing I did. I just … when you have all the knowledge and the other side doesn't really have an opinion, they're like hey I don't know really know what you're doing with the money over there. I just know that you're operating these websites out here and you're making us money. When you have that kind of arrangement those people are more willing to say well you tell us what the investment is going to look like? And so from my perspective I kind of went down the road of just saying look I want to … I still want to pay you your money but I don't want to have partners any more for various reasons. Like I want to structure this in such a way that makes sure that you get your return but also make sure that I benefit from it in the way that I think I should long term. And so I'd like to roll out … basically, I bought them out. I just came up with a structure and said this is how I would value the properties and I can [inaudible 00:25:59.2] the properties to pay this off. And so I rolled everything out into basically a Seller Finance note and I was able to get it done in 20, 30 days. As opposed to an SBA loan or trying to go out and raise … when you do a situation like that where people are giving you their cash and you're dealing with multiple investors, if you are able to call the shots then when you're ready for that change you can do it very quickly and efficiently. Joe: How many different investors did you have at that time where you had to get them out? Brad: So I only had really three people that had invested at that time but at the same time I was looking to buy more. So when I rolled it out into a loan I actually brought on three new investors but I brought them on as just debt. Joe: Got you, okay then you paid them a higher than normal interest rate. Brad: I did. So it depends on who it was but my interest rates were 6 to 9% on the deals that I did. Joe: Okay. Brad: So it just depends on who it was. And I never really nickeled and dimed people over the interest rate, I try to find people that I thought would be able, that would trust that I would do the right thing with the money and [inaudible 00:27:07.6] plus trying to get the exact interest rate. Joe: Let's talk about for those listening thinking about rolling up different properties into a portfolio. Let's talk about multiples and returns on investment. You know we talk all the time about a business that's doing 100,000 that's five years old with one employee is worth a certain multiple but an equal business with one employee and work load that same age that's doing a million in discretionary earnings not only is it worth 10 times more in terms of numbers but it's also that multiple goes up right? So instead of two and a half to three and a half times in terms of value, the multiple because of the size and breadth of the business that multiple might jump to four or five times. Did you find the same thing to be true when you rolled up essentially 30 small content sites, 30 small blogs into one portfolio and sold off to a private equity firm where they pay a much larger multiple? Brad: Yeah okay. So … just so you know the private equity firm that I sold it out to I sold it at four and a half multiple. So just to kind of … that was a high multiple, I was very pleased with the transaction. Joe: Okay. Brad: So in my sale, I definitely saw an increased multiple. Okay, so from my perspective I did transactions that were … I did a lot of them in the 50,000 range and then as I got further down the road I did a lot of 125, 300, a couple of 500s. And here's what I found from my perspective, the properties in the … at least in the web design blog space that we're selling for more were higher quality properties. So where we deal with every day like we're talking to someone who's selling on Amazon, we could find someone who's selling on Amazon that's doing $50,000 a year in discretionary earnings, it's got … doing everything but they're in a small category. Whereas you could find someone who's doing a million dollars in discretionary earnings that's doing everything perfect as well but they're in a broader category. So we would see that where it's like hey they're both doing great they're … you know but they just happen to make less. In the design blog space, it wasn't so much like that. It was like if you're doing great then you are bigger and you are earning more. And so they did command higher multiples. I don't know off the top of my head I know one of my 500,000 transactions was a two and a half multiple and … but I know that one of my $300,000 transactions was a three point maybe one or two. Joe: And you talked about when you purchased it. Brad: When I purchased; yeah. So [inaudible 00:29:46.2] a lot of that. Joe: When you sold it was all lumped together and one multiple was applied. They didn't look at the individual blogs and sites and say we'll give you this for that and this for the other one, it was all- Brad: Right and the and the private equity plays … I mean I'm sure that you've talked to people just like I have, the private equity world is … we're seeing some changes I think in the industry right now with private equity. I think there's kind of two things going on. One is private equity is scooping up a lot of sides, stripping out all of the cost out of them, and literally just let them die and because the return on the money is good even then. That's one thing that I've seen private equity doing and that's what happened with mine. It killed them off. I mean there's no way. Joe: It killed them off. Brad: Yeah but having said that, that company that bought it is thriving. So I think through the acquisition they learned some things about what they wanted to do and what they were good at. So I don't know that they would look at it as a failure because I think that if they were able to use the information to then go and build a much bigger company that's doing some pretty big things. On the other hand, I had mentioned the other way that private equity is going like we just had a transaction that closed this week that I … where you've got an operational group that is under private equity. So we see the private equity guys a lot of times, they're like hey we want five million on EBITDA. Well, we don't have a lot of sites that come our way that have got these big seller discretionary numbers. So what I think is happening in the industry right now is there are these operational groups that are saying hey we'll go deal with 10 or 15 of these things, we'll still get you your … whatever you're looking for, several million dollars in sellers discretionary earnings but we'll operate all these things underneath you and kind of keep them running. And I do think that they'll like hold on to the content and just let it die. I think that Google especially is fighting against that right now specifically. I think their Freshness algorithm has kind of taken over and kind of prevented people from being able to do that effectively. And so I don't think that strategy is advised or a good idea and I think it will go away completely. Joe: You mean in the algorithm updates or having those sites die off a lot faster if you're not doing anything? Brad: They do. They just … they track what you're doing and I've even done some experiments. So I analyzed it on a small content portfolio and I have a marketing firm that runs those forming. They basically do all the content and everything. And we have experimented and seen Google Freshness is a very real algorithm that if you fall asleep on a blog or something that has any kind of time sensitivity at all then you will pay the price and it doesn't take very long. Joe: Got you. So for anybody listening that thinks that Quiet Light is only a physical products e-commerce brokerage firm, Brad is obviously showing us that the experience that we have is pretty vast. Jason's been in the affiliate space. We've all done SaaS, affiliate, content, advertising, physical products, but Brad obviously I think probably the bulk of transactions that you've closed so far with Quiet Light as an advisor you had been in the physical product space. But you've got a tremendous amount of experience in content as well correct? Brad: Yeah but to me, the content is hard to come by. I don't know if you feel that way or not but I don't get them a lot. I did a transaction last month for a guy that I actually had bought three websites from in my buying days. And it was a really interesting dynamic because I was able to … when the buyer has been on the phone and saying can I trust this guy? I was able to say you know what I did three deals with him myself and I can tell you it went exactly like this [inaudible 00:33:21.0]. So that was kind of a neat thing. But you know he came to me and said hey I want to sell a content site and he was monetizing it through digital downloads, and not a big transaction, a couple of hundred thousand dollar transaction. And you know he said what should I expect? And I said you know what the content is pretty hot, we don't get tons and tons of content people trying to sell these days. People want to hold onto it because it's very low workload and it's very high earnings for what people are doing and they seem to be getting very good multiples for it. So we priced it out at a 3.25 multiple and we got about 96% or something of the asked within 72 hours, I think you sent me an e-mail and said both your listings this week are going to be under a lot. By the weekend you are right one was 48 hours, one was 72 hours that transaction was closed in three weeks start to finish. Joe: Yeah content is easier to do due diligence on as well. I just had a content site closed. What is … we're recording on I think Wednesday right? Brad: Yeah. Joe: So 10 days ago. Less than 10 days ago I had one sell and it's interesting I'll give you the details of it. Daily updates, hundreds of thousands of visitors to it and Google was rewarding it like crazy because of the vast amount of new content on a daily basis. And the revenue took off like a rocket. It was just under a nine million dollar transaction and a very very high multiple. Higher than yours but it was explosive growth. It was very big. A lot of … their discretionary earnings is obviously very high. So the bigger the discretionary earnings, perk of the growth that you've got there the higher the multiple as well. So content sites if you're out there listening and you've got a portfolio of them or you're an individual person running one and you think that you're hearing things that are not worth all that much, truth of the matter is that we saw lots. And there's lots of good buyers for them. Brad: And I think that's your point, you asked the question earlier. Are we seeing the multiples go up the same way? And I think across the board you just have a supply and demand issue when you get into larger sites. There's just not a lot of them available and we're seeing that our buyers are ready to go on larger transactions. You just don't get as many large transactions to come by. And the example that you gave, I'm pretty sure you had competing offers on that deal. Joe: I did. I had three offers and they kept … they update each other and grew it up. Bryan- Brad: Three offers on a nine million dollar property, that's something. Joe: Yeah. Bryan's got the physical products business; its nutritional supplements. It was listed at 15 million and is under contract at higher than that because there were multiple offers on it. So don't be afraid. I hear people tell me look I think I should sell before it gets too big because there's not going to be as many buyers out there. That's not what I'm finding. It's not the case. Would you agree that there's a ton of money out there for the right business? If it's a good quality business it's going to last. Brad: Well it will sound very counterproductive to what we're trying to do at Quiet Light but every week I talk to people on the phone and I just basically tell them if you've got the willingness to keep working on your business you should not sell. I mean you just shouldn't because you should grow it as big as you can. Because it's not easy to build a business that does what your business is doing. Whatever it is, anyone that we're talking to is having some level of success because they're talking about selling and they know they've got cash flow and things like that. And I just always tell them if you're done let's go. If you're ready to be done or you've got other plans or you want to travel or you want to do this or that or you want to … you've got a new venture that you're thinking about sure let's list it. Let's get it done. But if you've got the willingness to keep going then we're here when you're ready but honestly keep going. Go as far as you can take it. Joe: And Mark calls that reckless honesty because it's not necessarily in our best interest but it's what we all do. He did it for me when I sold back in 2010. The difference I'll tell you now for those that are thinking they're emotionally tired and done really you've got to sort of tap yourself in the chest and say do I have the heart? Brad: Yeah. Joe: Because the worst conversations I've had are when I say look, you want X value, your business realistically is only worth Y. If you hang on another 12 months and you reinvest your energies, you set some goals, you get that traffic back up, and you get that revenue going again at a higher level you'll get Y but it's going to take 12 months. The worst conversations I have are when they come back to me in 12 months and say you know I didn't do any of it. The revenue has gone down 20%, can I still get the X you talked about? And the answer is no because they didn't have the heart. Those were the worst conversations. Brad: Right. Joe: So always, I tell people tap in my chest if you've got a heart do it. But like you say, if you're emotionally done; if you're ready we're ready. I think some people … I've been doing this six years as you know and occasionally we tell people look it's in your best interest to hold off. Sometimes they'll interpret that as we don't want to list their business. That's not the case at all. Brad: Yeah not. Joe: When they're ready, we will do it. We'll get that buyer. And just from the few examples that we've talked about, there are buyers and situations where we get it under contract very very quickly. Listen Brad we are running short on time you shared a lot of information here that I think will give people good insight into you into building a portfolio of either content businesses or any businesses the way that they can sort of piece it together the way you did and then exiting which is fantastic. I do want to talk about one thing briefly though. Personal in nature if you don't mind, can we? I won't go too far I promise but say yes. Brad: Yes. Joe: Okay. So I understand you went hiking in North Carolina recently and they're renaming a mountain after you. Brad: Yeah. Joe: Do you … what happened there? Brad: Well my wife and I have five boys from range two to 11. So we're pretty busy living life. And for our 16th anniversary, we decided to go to Asheville North Carolina, leave the kids at home. My parents came to town to take care of them and we went to Catawba Falls … which you can Google it. There has been many fatal accidents there. In fact, there's been a fatal accident there since I left. Pisgah National Forest has many accidents from what I've come to learn. But we were hiking up a trail at Catawba Falls and then we entered a closed section of the trail. I didn't know it was a ropes kind of situation so we're climbing up ropes and going up a rocky kind of cliff. Joe: Let me just clarify for the attorneys out there that's thinking they can help you. You entered a closed section of the trail; closed. Brad: I didn't know. Here's the thing, I've got some lawyer friends that have reached out to me about it and here's the other thing the Pisgah National Forest is owned by the US government. So if you decide that you want to sue them just know that the US government does not take lawsuits kindly. And they take zero liability. So I had friends reach out to me and say you need to pursue this and then I was like I was in the Pisgah National Forest and they're like no, that's not going to work. You're going to lose that. But basically, it depends on the state. North Carolina does not have very friendly laws for stuff like that anyway. It's one of the least friendly states for that. But I hiked up, I saw a beautiful waterfall … actually and filmed in the movie The Hunger Games and that's why we wanted to go up and see it. So we went up there, saw the waterfall, we needed to kind of get a move on it because we had hiked a lot longer than we had expected so we're moving very quickly on the way down. Joe: You and your wife and kids or just you and your wife? Brad: No just me and my wife. The kids were at home. I vacated the ropes for a minute, I don't … I saw a path; it seemed like a reasonable thing to do. It was only going to be like 10 ft. and honestly I don't remember anything after that. I fell 40 ft. down a very rocky slope and I don't remember anything until the paramedics and the firemen were there. They tried to life like me up they couldn't do it. And I broke my arm, dislocated my shoulder, collapsed my lung, I had deep bruises and things like that. I did not have a concussion surprisingly. Joe: You got to thank God. Brad: Three and a half hours to get … yeah, I did. It took them to three and a half hours to get me out in to the hospital. Joe: Wow. Brad: And anyway thank God it was just a lucky situation, very scary for my wife. She was talking to me for a long time without me really knowing what was going on. For 45 minutes she thought she's lost his mind. Joe: Well the first thing I think we all did a Quiet Light was you know thankfully you're okay and we were doing little prayers for you and all that stuff. And then we start like man that guy is just not so bright going on the closed trails. For everybody listening, if anybody is foolish enough to do what Brad did, we bought him the inflatable … what do they call it, the inflatable? Brad: They're like these big bubbles that you get inside with your family. Joe: We bought Brad a bunch of those and I started a petition here in North Carolina to change Catawba Falls to Wayland Falls but nobody listened. Nobody listened at all. Brad: Unfortunately. Joe: I've been there and next time I go again I'm not going on the closed trails I don't think but. Brad: You may not know where the closed trails are. I didn't know it was closed. Joe: Okay. I've been there because I know that it was like oh look that's where the Hunger Games was filmed. Brad: Yeah. Joe: I'm going to bring a sign and I'm going to drop it in there. I'm going to take a sledge hammer and put it in the ground call and Catawba Falls and take a picture for you. Brad: Yeah. Joe: See if anybody takes it out. It could be there for- Brad: It was a crazy accident and I'm thankful for all the support I got. From Quiet Light, from friends of family, it was a … I recovered very quickly. I've got a pretty gnarly scar right here that is still … I'm hoping it's going to turn the color of my skin is it looks like I got really depressed or something. Joe: He's holding up his wrist ladies and gentlemen and it looks like he decided to take his own. Brad: Tried … that's what it looks like. Joe: Is there a pin in there now? Brad: Yeah there's a play and about a dozen screws in that arm but I've got full mobility back. I'm free of therapy. I can't do pushups yet but I'm getting closer. Joe: And you did it all while we started at Quiet Light and you had listings and not a single client really knew what was going on and they … I mean it's because you worked anyway which is amazing so that's awesome. Well again Catawba Falls, I'm going to try to get it changed to Wayland Falls but let's see if that happens or not. Brad: Good luck with that. Joe: Brad, thank you. I learned a lot. Brad: Thank you. Joe: I learned a lot about you and I appreciate your time. Hopefully, everybody here has did as well and we'll keep doing what we did here at Quiet Light. Thanks, man. Brad: Okay thanks a lot for having me on. Links: Brad's LinkedIn Profile brad@quietlightbrokerage.com About Brad Wayland on QLB

Chris got fired from his last job, thankfully! He was speaking with co-workers about his affiliate revenues he was making on the side and his boss found out and fired him! Fast forward almost 10 years and Chris is the host of the UpFuel Podcast and an expert in the Amazon Affiliate space. He is the owner of several businesses in the Amazon space, including affiliate, SaaS and physical product businesses. His opinions and recommendations are not theories…they are from real life experiences. Chris is humble…you'll get that in the Podcast. He didn't sell or pitch anything. He just shared his experiences being an Amazon Affiliate entrepreneur. One thing he said over and over when it came to being successful within the Amazon Affiliate space is to “differentiate” your site. Make sure that whatever product line you choose to pursue, that you differentiate your site from others…there needs to be a strong reason why the end user would review products on your site versus the competition. Episode Highlights: Chris has been self-employed for just under 10 years. His Amazon Affiliate income replaced his “job” income…before he was fired. He owns wordpress plugins, saas, affiliate and physical product businesses. Each niche has its strengths. Choose a niche that is of interest if you are starting out. If you are building a portfolio of Amazon Affiliate sites, then a system and process takes precedence over passion. Price point matters GREATLY within the affiliate space. Develop a product review site, not an information site to help buyers make decisions. Content is still critical, and Chris outsources much of it these days. Amazon's cookie length is 24 hours, allowing you to make money off products you are not reviewing. A long term approach is the key to long term success. Building links can accelerate ranking, but is no replacement for good quality content. When buying…beware of PBNs! Transcription: Mark: Joe how are you? Joe: I'm doing fantastic Mr. Daoust, how about you? Mark: Good. I'd understand you talked to a friend of Quiet Light and a friend of Brad one of our brokers here, Chris Guthrie. Joe: Yeah Chris is from UpFuel.com and AmaSuite and I mentioned those upfront because we didn't talk about it at all during the podcast. He's an entrepreneur, have been self-employed for about 10 years, went off on his own after he got fired. He was actually talking to his coworkers and bragging about how much money he was making doing affiliate marketing and his boss found out and fired him; probably the best thing that ever happened to him because he'd been doing very well ever since. And the subject of the podcast is really specifically focused on the Amazon Affiliate Space. Meaning you build the site doing product reviews on say vacuum cleaners and people look at those reviews click on one that they like and it takes them to Amazon, somebody buys it on Amazon and you get paid. And it's really Chris's … one of his areas of expertise and I mentioned Up Fuel which is his podcast and his blog that he talks about this on so I would recommend people tune in. But also AmaSuite which is a software service that he's built that helps people sort of narrow the path in terms of what they want to find, what products, how to … what niche, what category and he didn't talk about it at all. He didn't pitch. He didn't promote so I'm doing a little bit for him because what I was trying to get was a clear path for people that want to either build one from scratch or buy one and grow it or things of that nature. And I think that he was hesitant to talk about his own product because he's such a nice guy. He really … listen Mark I'm going to, don't let this go to your head but he reminded me of you a little bit which is he just wants to have conversations and help people. And when he helps people it comes back around. And it was a great great great show and I think it'll help a lot of people in terms of the Amazon Affiliate Space. Mark: He reminded you of me huh? Joe: Yeah just the better looking, a lot better looking. Mark: The poor fellow. Joe: All right well let's get to it … I mean if you … it's got to be good so let's get to it then. Mark: All right here we go. Joe: Hey folks it's Joe Valley from Quiet Light Brokerage and today I've got Chris Guthrie on the line with me. Hey Chris how are you doing? Chris: I'm doing well thank you for having me. Joe: Chris you're like a … you're a little bit of famous in my world you know. You are. You're like a star. I know you from your podcast and we've run in the same circles for years but didn't get a chance to meet each other until last October right? It's Rhodium Event Weekend out in Vegas. It turns out you're very good friends with one of our brokers here, Brad Wayland. You guys are in the same neck of the woods I think right? Chris: Yeah well actually he's an up and a little bit south to Seattle; he's over several states but- Joe: Okay so in the internet world I guess you're in the same neck of the woods because you're- Chris: That's right. Joe: You should like candies; you guys don't even if grocery's on. Chris: Yeah. Joe: But you talk to each other often? Chris: Definitely, yup. Joe: Well he speaks very highly of you. And I … as I said pre intro here we don't do fancy intros. I don't have your bio in front of me. I know about you. I know what you do a little bit. But I think folks want to hear it directly from you. So why don't you give us a little bit of background on how you got started in the internet space and what you do for a living these days. Chris: Definitely. Yeah so probably the reason why I try and put myself out in the first place is just because it leads to conversations and other different types of opportunities. That's kind of some eyesight a long time ago when I was digging into this online space that I wanted to blog about it and talk about it because it would lead to relationships and friendships that I count people out and they count me out. And that's sort of why when you said the famous thing I think … I don't really think that but it's more just that's kind of why I went with that direction. But yeah I pretty much just have been doing various online businesses now for about 8 ½ years full time. On the Amazon Affiliate Side of things that's actually how I was able to first leave my day job. I was just fired but I left ahead that job and was able to just keep doing online stuff because my Amazon Affiliate income had replaced my day job income. And so I just basically got to work the next day working on building more sites and growing the main primary site I had at the time. But yes so other than Amazon Affiliate thing I also run WordPress plugins, a SaaS company, physical product company, and other different types of Amazon Affiliate or well regular affiliate websites as well. So a bunch of different things along the way but yeah I've been here right for quite a while. Joe: So what's your favorite in terms of running the business? Do you like the physical product space which takes working capital and things of that nature or the Amazon Affiliate Space? Chris: It's tough to say because each one has its benefit. With the affiliate side of things, you don't have any … you don't have to deal with any capital it's just other than your initial capital to invest in the content creation and building a site out. There isn't going to be as many costs associated with that especially once you get up in ranks and start making money. And then there is … in many cases there's less ongoing expenses. But on the physical product side you're constantly putting in more cash and then a lot of cases it's just a matter of trying to lay the damage to yourself for as long as possible so you can continue to grow that business. I mean everyone has a different goal in terms of what they want to do with any business type but in the physical profit side you've got to do … you've got to re-invest so much more. So I can't really answer I guess one way or the other I think it really comes down to what people are most interested in. For me, I like both and so that's kind of why I still kind of have my feet in both areas; both on the physical product side and if the affiliate side and then also selling software and things like that. Joe: Got you. Well as we talked a little bit before we started recording, I've sold a number of affiliate spaces, businesses where they're selling Amazon Affiliate products and making money through Amazon Affiliates. And it's becoming more and more prevalent in some of the event groups like Rhodium Weekend, a lot of folks getting very interested in that. I've always been in the physical products space, I had a couple of content sites and my physical products site was actually write good quality content and Google will reward me was my methodology. And it happened but I sold physical products. But the affiliate space is fascinating for me and I think more and more people are wanting to learn more about it. So that's obviously why we're chatting today and want to really get your expertise on how do you get started in this space? How do you focus on growth? Can you ramp it up? Can you do pay per click? Do you do social media? Do you do the tricks and tactics that they do with physical products on Amazon, or what's the approach? And then maybe keep in mind that we have both buyers and sellers that listen to the podcast. So tell me from a starting point how do you begin in the Amazon Affiliate Space? Do you just simply research a product, pick one, and go with it? Do something you love? What would you recommend to those listening? Chris: Yeah definitely. So for the way I like to do things is I like to look into … it's more of a just general niche research. And that's of course … you said that where there's a lot of baggage because there's a whole different bunch of different ways you can do this. You can use various tools to help with the research process. You can just go out to Google based on things you're interested in and do research in that way. On the Amazon Affiliate side, that's what I'd spent more of my time doing was focusing more on areas that I was most interested in personally. So I had a site that was focused on like smaller computers and that was something that I was interested in personally. So that's kind of how I decided. I was looking at the various niches online and what people were ranking for and how they're making money. And it just seemed like a lot of the content they are creating wasn't really … in many cases at least for the niche that I was in before I sold that site, they weren't even actually reviewing the products that they're talking about. They are just basically writing articles and using CNET [inaudible 00:08:34.7] large conglomerates, larger websites to come up with the information they could write about. So what I did and so I was … you know contacted these companies and got them to send me products for free and I sent it back and do things like that. So with any site that I do whether it's Amazon Affiliate or anything else it's … for me, it's mainly about finding a way to differentiate. So looking at any niche is just okay what can I do to be better or to better serve the audience than the existing niches that are out there? So I usually- Joe: Okay. I would think it would matter that it's something you're interested in because with an Amazon Affiliate Space you're reviewing the products. You're writing content about it. You're sharing your voice and your opinion. It seems like it'll be important that is something that you like. Chris: Yeah definitely I mean that's … for me that was the approach. I mean I think that if the goal and this isn't something that I've done personally but if the goal is to really systemize and launch dozens of sites or something like that then you would need to just … you could really do just things your interested in because you can't potentially run out of those. But you'd be looking at different types of criteria just like what's the average sign price of a product, that's one of the things that you focus on as well is if you're focusing on a niche where the price is much higher then you can make more money in Amazon's Affiliate program because of the way they have the structure; their affiliate payouts. But that's something to consider as well is just the price of the items that are going to be sold. Joe: Okay so focus a little bit on something that you like but also look at the math behind it in terms of the Amazon Affiliate Payouts and the different categories that they have and the price points. Because you're going to get a paid … you get paid a percentage of the close transaction I assume; is that right? Can you touch on that a little bit, how you make money as an affiliate? Start from scratch and assume that people are tired of physical products or tired of SaaS products and they want to maybe buy one of these. How do you make money doing it? Go right into that a little bit. Chris: Yes, so the way that it's done pretty much is just focusing on … actually to see and try to pull up the actual charts that I have memorized it off the side of my head but each category will have different types of payouts. And pretty much the way you can … I would say and try and pull it really quick but I have it in front of me … yeah, so the way that I would that is find- Joe: So somebody reviews a product and let's say they're reviewing vacuum cleaners. And someone sells vacuum cleaners on Amazon; obviously, they do. And I'm talking about the reviews on those physical products and someone clicks on the link and goes to buy it on Amazon, I get paid a percentage of that but I never have to own the physical product that's the upside of this right? I get a percentage of the sale but never have to purchase the inventory, correct? Chris: Exactly yup and in pretty much the … and I was trying to find the category here, so every category is different and they'll show you which … what the fees are like I'd give you one example, so if it's outdoor tools for instance that's 5.5% as a percentage that you'll get. And the great thing too is any time that you send someone to Amazon you'll get a commission on any product that they buy while they're on Amazon. So even if you're referring people to vacuum cleaners then you can get sales on other types of these accessories as well within a 24 hour window. That's the cookie blank for Amazon. Joe: Excellent. So I know that with physical products you can get to the top fairly fast. There's different processes and categories and not just on Amazon but if you're selling a physical product all that you need to do is pay some PPC ads for instance with Google Ad Words. It's not a winning formula oddly … obviously all the time but with affiliate how are you getting traction? How are you getting up to page one of the search engines and is it a short term game or is it a long term game? Chris: Yes, definitely more of a long term game. With any website that I'm trying to build out and rank it's more of kind of like we say you're creating content or someone is creating content for you. Looking at what's ranking there and listing okay what can I do that's better than that? And then having someone or doing it yourself. Creating out that content and creating something better. Things that you can do to accelerate the process of trying to rank would be building links and doing things like that. For me most of the time it's more of an emphasis on the content creation side aspect but like in the case of the examples I was referring to before that I sold, I would do things like trying to … because mine was in the tactical category, I try to do things like breaking news within that niche. And I would contact larger sites to say hey this product is available on Amazon now. And like in gadget and other types of sites like that, I had a link back to my site because of doing that. So it's like another way to try and help with getting more link authority from external sites that would help with the content that I was creating for that site. But that's kind of the process that … and I would never do anything like pay advertising for affiliate sites. It's … and I'm not sure if any of Amazon affiliate person out there that's doing that. For me I just … it never [inaudible 00:13:30.0] just because I know that the margins you're getting from the sales of the products you're referring rather. Joe: Yeah. Chris: There's not really enough money actually if I'd like to drive then paid traffic to try and convert that paid traffic. Joe: Right. Chris: Years and years ago people would do just racked paid advertising straight to Amazon's website and you could do that before they banned it but that was like years and years ago. Joe: Got you. Well, they get smarter every year and fix the problems and make it tougher. And the people that are doing it right, I think survive in the long run and knows that cheating to get to the top end up getting kicked to the curb hopefully anyway. Chris: Yeah. Joe: So with an Amazon affiliate site, some people have the impression that if you've got a physical product site that you're constantly managing customer service, constantly managing inventory and that it's a grind, you get to constantly churn out new skews to stay on top of the competition and then, of course, grow beyond Amazon.com to the different countries. It sounds like and some people get the impression that it sounds like, seems like Amazon Affiliate would be build it and let it grow slowly and it's a lot less work. But from what you just said which is breaking news and staying on top of things you're putting in the same kind of effort on a daily basis I would assume with an affiliate business as you are with that physical products business or is that not the case? Chris: It's not necessarily the case. I think it really depends on the niche that you're in because you know it like before we hit recording you mentioned another mutual friend that does Amazon Affiliate things as well. Joe: Yuan Fitzner let's just say his name out loud. So Fitzner it's you and he's a great guy. For anybody who doesn't know him, find him through Rhodium Weekend; he's fantastic. Chris: Yeah so he's probably a good person at all as well but he doesn't do any link building, right? He focuses more on just creating the content and that's similar to the strategy that I do as well. But in the case of the niche that I was in specifically before I sold that site doing that as a strategy was … I knew there was a benefit there. Because I think one time Engadget linked to the site and they didn't change the affiliate link. I think it was like several thousand dollar affiliate fees that they … but in that case, it was more just like here is something that fits- Joe: You didn't point that mistake to the under laying and good backing. Chris: None of it, it's just like tip line and you just say hey here's this product that's out now and people are probably excited about it and it's available on Amazon now. And yes that was a nice little bonus but … so now it was more of like niche specific. I definitely think that … I'm probably more often than not actually. You're building out affiliate sites because I had other sites as well. I have other sites that it's not like that. Where we're not trying to break news or do things like that. It's just more niche specific. Even people in the technical space they don't want to do that approach and they don't have to. I mean that's just kind of the style that we chose for that site. Joe: Okay so good quality content, SEO friendly over the long run and theoretically you'll get rewarded. Is that the basic simplified dumbed down approach? Chris: Yeah I mean it does simplify it but that's really kind of the core. And I think I really emphasize just the differentiation aspect. Like any site that I build it's always like okay I don't really want to enter this area unless I'm willing to do something multiple times better than what's already there. So that's the approach I take for really building any site. Joe: What are some of the mistakes that you've made then in terms of doing these affiliate sites? I mean what did you learn the hard way? Chris: Yeah. So of the some of the mistakes I made was … at least for me personally, I do better having fewer sites and just focusing on doing really well with those sites as opposed to having many sites. Like another [inaudible 00:17:09.7] can find that was Spencer he … years and years ago he used to do like hundreds of niche websites and make money from Google AdSense. For me I never … she was interested in doing that type of approach and systemizing in that way. But for me at least it was just a matter of trying to focus on two small niches and so I can … I think I had one that was on HDMI cable reviews. Which was a fail because that was … HDMI cables are inexpensive and then it's also it's just kind of a small niche and … well, not necessarily a small niche but it was kind of a … it was hard to do well with that one then than some of the other niches I went after. Joe: That could seem like it would change a whole lot over the years either. Chris: Yeah I mean it was … well, that's the change in standards in terms like new for kay, signals and things like that. But yeah it was just like if you can go with higher price items that's helpful right? With the part that I was doing is computers and so it'd be you know … or small laptops rather that would be more of a payout each time. Joe: Okay, I had an example given to me maybe at December, January you know someone that was passionate about … I think it was salt water fishing and writing a blog about salt water fishing and within that doing the affiliate links on the different tackle and lures that you can get with salt water fishing. Would that be an approach that someone could take? You know if I have a passion like that whether it's salt water fishing or basket weaving if you will, to build a site based upon that passion and then just go with that approach? And then the follow up question is all right great how do I learn about SEO as you have over the years? What resources do you have? Because it seems again really simplified to say just build a site that you really are passionate about, find great products, review them, and off you go. But you're still got to build an SEO from this site and write good content that that the … your Google is gonna love, right? Chris: Yeah so going back to the example, I think if you're building out just a site that you're passionate about and then trying to then add Amazon Affiliate as like a monetization … kind of like an add-on, I think it's harder to make Amazon a larger portion of the revenue for that site. If the goal isn't from the start like hey we're going to build out like a more of a review type site as opposed to here's something that we're interested at about just general information and then here is while reading this article happened to may be interested in this specific lure or whatever the example is you gave. Joe: Salt water fishing. Chris: Yeah, so that just from what I've been looking at sites in the past it just seems like that's more challenging. What usually ends up happening in those types of cases, the website owner usually ends up making a larger portion of their money just from banner ads or other types of ad platforms like that and then Amazon is more of a supplemental as opposed to the sites that I build. It'd be more … really focused around the review side of things. And so it'll just be like people that are coming to this content are interested in reviews about this product and so then that traffic is more likely to buy something than people that are just interested in general information come to my site and then they may or may not be in a buying state. Joe: So a clear differentiate is a content site that's just giving information about products in general versus a review site when you're comparing a variety of different products. And when you choose one of those products it's going to Amazon and you get a percentage of that revenue. That'd be, right? Chris: Yeah and I don't think it's a bad thing to do … really your example where you're building out because it's great to generate revenue from ads and just have a lot of traffic as well just from various articles you're writing and all about salt water fishing and then also be able to make money from Amazon with the Affiliate Program. It's just there's two different ways that you might see sites if you're on the buying or building or selling side of things. Joe: Well on those three sides which do you like … do you think, let's just talk about two; building or buying. We had Walker Deibel on the show a couple of weeks ago talking about build versus buy or buy versus build. It's actually in a book. He's coming on the Quiet Light team as an advisor in July. Do you personally in terms of specifically the affiliate space, Amazon Affiliate Space do you think it's better to build or to buy? Chris: Well I've done all of them. Build, buy, sell, every aspect on the Amazon Affiliate Side. I prefer now at least … I've been doing this for a lot longer to … or that depends right? Because it depends on for me at least where my capital might be tied up; either I just recently bought something or I'm doing other investments that are outside the online space and I want it just free of capital. And so I'm not actively looking to buy something or I'm just trying to focus on okay now that I've got that other thing going on but I can try and focus on scaling up all my things and as well. I prefer, if I had to pick one I'd say I prefer building and then being able to sell after that because for me at least I'd like to be able to invest less of my own personal cash. I know you mentioned [inaudible 00:22:18.3] before, [inaudible 00:22:19.4], a lot of the buyers there they don't have access to capital that I don't have access to through … you know people have consider with more money that they can then use as investing partners. And so I suppose if I … given the opportunity I had more capital then I would probably be doing more buying. So I guess it's tough to say. If you don't have cash and you want to just get started then building would make the most sense and maybe you can sell once you get to a certain point. That gives you some capital to either reinvest and build more sites or maybe build or buy other things. But if you have access to capital from … for any reason then buying would be great because you're able to just start with something existing. Joe: How long has it been for you from that build to sell? Do you typically hold something for 12, 24, 36 months? What have you seen? What do you try to set as a goal for yourself when you're building something? I think okay I'm going to build this to eventually sell it if that's your goal, how long do you like to hold it for? Or does it just depend? Chris: Well, a lot of the times it's more just a … it really does depend. Because half the time I do this site … well most of the time actually when I do these sites it's more a matter of I'm building something up, I like the cash flow and that's kind of the main goals is just building our monthly cash flow from various websites, businesses, etcetera. So that's kind of more of what I'm after is just getting more cash flow and then rather than just trying to pull out my capital right away and just to sell. So for me, it's all about the cash flow and I am not always interested in exactly trying to sell. Joe: How many how many balls do you have in the inner; Amazon affiliate wise, how many sites are you juggling now? Chris: If I were to add up all the different sites it'd probably be … I had to look- Joe: You know it's more than a dozen or so when you have to look. Chris: Well, no it's more I was trying to get a specific number. I'll say it's less than a dozen but I also include in that other affiliate sites that just make money from other CPA type offers opposed to Amazon. Joe: Got you. Chris: Because kind of once … for me, Amazon was a starting point. That was kind of how I got into the whole space was building out this Amazon Affiliate Site, I was doing it on the side outside of my working hours in a completely unrelated job and just trying to find a way to earn enough money to do this full time. And then once I started making enough money from Amazon it opened up all these different opportunities to try and do other things as well. And that's one is going to software, creating tools for Amazon Affiliate Sellers or well affiliates rather and doing things like that. Joe: How long has it been since you were thankfully fired from the last day job you had? Chris: Yeah, I was looking it up. Actually, I have it on my calendar October 13th is the day and it was … it will be nine years this year, later this year rather. And then I'll be 10 years the next year but that will be sort of, that'll be what 2000 … I'm trying to think now what the year it is, 2018 so it's 2009 I believe. Joe: 2009. Chris: Yeah. Joe: It's a long time to be self-employed; it's impressive that you pulled that off. Chris: Yeah. And now for me at least it's more of a matter of just further building out multiple different income streams and revenue streams from a variety of different businesses. There's … well, that's a whole other discussion right whether you should focus on just one thing or kind of spread it out. For me, it was more like build something out that starts making cash. And it's like well I don't know if I can really sell this for enough to make it worth selling. It's not going to change my life in any meaningful way so I'll keep it and have someone help me out to run it. Well, that's kind of the approach I'm working with. Joe: So if someone is listening to this and they were in your shoes, you know where you were 10 years ago and they had a day job and they want to do what you've done which is building Amazon Affiliate Sites and make some income on the side what should they expect? Should they … if they pick a category they like, they do a review site, they sign up, they get involved should they … would your expectations that they're going to hit 1 out of 10 on sites that they do, 2 out of 10, 5 out of 10. What would you give them in terms of a ratio so that they can understand and of course these are all ballpark numbers and what kind of money can they really make? I mean we're talking about on the small side a few thousand bucks a month and the people that are big and really experienced at this you know what kind of money are they making? Chris: Yeah you know that's a tough … it's tough I think with the ballpark it's a challenge to give an answer to that because the experiences that people have may lend themselves to be able to be successful more easily. Joe: All right, well look everybody listens to me all right. And they're like Joe you're an idiot but I like you and you know would … I have people tell me like they feel like we're old friends from this nude podcast. But you know me through Brad, we chatted, if I was to do this … let's be specific. You could say … be honest say, Joe, you're going to do 1 out of 10. Just face it, Joe, you're not going to do well. I mean you're the expert what would you guess if people are going to do this with some these in experience on a thing that they love and they're smart and they're going to do research online, they're gonna go to your podcast, they're going to go read everything about Chris Guthrie and figure how you do it. What are they going to do, 1 out of 10, 1 out of 5, what do you think? Chris: Ah if they're learning from me it's going to be 100% right. Joe: You're a humble guy every time okay. Chris: Yeah and though I'd say probably it's … with a lot of things, you get into it and sometimes they'll hit and they'll do well. So for me, the best site that I have was doing over 10k a month. Joe: Okay. Chris: Worst site would be like $300 a month. And that's where I'll be some of the weaker ones and then some are them between where I have a few thousand or so. Hit rate would be more like maybe 25-50% with sites that would be doing pretty well. But it … yeah, it's just really tough to answer that question for me. Joe: You improved that hit rate I would assume with the research that you do upfront. Is that right? I mean just like a physical products business on the web, on Amazon or Shopify whatever it is if you do your research up front; what are the competition price points, how are you going to sell it, things of that nature- Chris: Yeah. Joe: And you're doing the same thing with Amazon Affiliate; you need to pick a product with a great margin, something that you can write about, something that has been up searches online. What tools do you use to help … even if you have a passion for something whether it's worth it on … whether it's worth creating an Amazon Affiliate Business? So are there certain tools that you use to help that hit rate go up? Chris: So well tools for like the research side of things? Joe: Yeah to help ensure that the path that you're going down is going to be as successful as possible. Chris: Yes, I use a lot of SEMrush actually. So I use that tool quite a bit because I just like to pull up a site, see what stuff is ranking well, where they're getting their traffic from and- Joe: Do you have the paid subscription for that or do you just use the free version? Chris: So I fluctuate off and on. So from the process of building or going back to yeah I'd more than all do the paid subscription, and then if it's okay we've got enough stuff on our plate let's just focus on what we have and not create anything new then it's like well I don't really need to pay extra subscription right now. So I fluctuate in and out. Ahrefs is another tool I use as well although that was another one that I just was okay I got a good sense of where our competitors are in their links, where they're getting traffic, and okay I cancel out as well. So it's like- Joe: I always get that one wrong, it's A-H-refs is that right? We did a giveaway when we launched the podcast on an account on a subscription for that but it was Mark's area of expertise. Can you spell it out for me? Chris: Yeah, it's A-H-R-E-F-S.com and I'm not even sure how you're supposed to pronounce that either. Joe: Okay. Chris: So I mean I met someone that works for the company at that conference as well. I didn't bring that up but yeah- Joe: Mumble what they said that'll generally work. If you actually … the way my 16 year old does, he just speaks confidently and I believe him when he's comp … no idea what he's talking about but he speaks confidently. I think that's the trick. Chris: Yeah. Joe: All right so Ahrefs- Chris: Yup. Joe: You went through it and that one is more of what links the sites have right? Is that what you're looking at? Chris: Yeah, so it'd be more like looking at both viewers and the lengths for me. I was merely just trying to see where my key rankings were and so I was kind of more just tracking how it is we're doing. For SEMrush that's why I would use just the tool for research. And the thing is that here's what … the thing with tools and especially the two tools I just mentioned they've been around for years and years and years so they have so many different things that I probably didn't even know. Like I probably didn't even need one or the other it's just like when you get comfortable using one tool for one thing you'd use it for just that one thing. And then you might use this tool for the other thing. But that's kind of what the approach I would do. Joe: Okay. So do that research upfront and what you're looking for is traffic, competition, links, things of that nature before you go down the path to increase success rate, any other recommendations that you'd give somebody just starting off? Chris: Just the main thing I would say is well … I mean if you're looking at what … just looking at larger sites that are doing well. Seeing … I try to reverse engineer a lot. So when you're looking at starting from now that you're doing your research process and seeing what sites are getting in the traffic beyond just like figuring out why are they getting this traffic. Is it because they have a bunch of links pointing at them? Is it because their content is much much better? That's … I guess I keep coming back to this like but it's always for me differentiation. What is it that they're doing that's really doing that is working really well for them and then how can I do better than that? And so in the process of doing that research and looking at that then you're going to see okay it looks like they're using AdThrive or something for their ad platform and then they're using Amazon's Affiliate Program and maybe they're using LinkShare so you link to Walmart and things like that. Joe: From a buyer's side if somebody came to you and said “Hey look I'm looking at buying this site can you give me your opinion on it?” What things should buyers look for that maybe somebody in the Amazon Affiliate Space has done this sort of cheat and it's not going to last, is there anything that stands out that people should be aware of or look for? Chris: It's not because … you want to look at where they … if they are building links you want look at where they're doing it because there's you know PBNs or things like that are definitely more gray area. Joe: If I were … go ahead and say what PBN stands for, please. Chris: Yeah, Private Blog Networks, that's where people build out like huge networks of blogs and then they use links on those blogs and point them at the site. And then those blogs are getting traffic or links part of them as well. So that looks like you're getting links from higher quality sites when in fact they're just sites people would construct pretty much solely for the purpose of pointing links at properties they own or properties their clients own. And I can't remember exactly how long ago it was but Google cracked down and quite a bit. From what I've seen people kind of just got it underground and so it's kind of the [inaudible 00:33:26.3] a lot but … so looking at that is helpful in terms of how a buyer can protect themselves from that. Usually, you're able to use some of these third party tools to help check that out. There's also things where if you're signing an agreement that's saying I haven't used a PBN and then you find out that they are because maybe you're ranking stopped or go down because they've stopped in turning to run that PBN and point the links at you then that's something that you could have legal recourse to go after them. But that might be something out of buying side that included- Joe: Yeah, that's what you definitely don't want to have to do is to go after them after the fact. Chris: Yeah. Joe: Because you're chasing them for money that you gave them which is never a good position to be in. Chris: Yeah. Joe: But certainly doing the research to see where those … where the traffic's coming from and see if there is a PBN and trying to avoid it as much as possible. I think a lot of the times Chris getting to know the person, trusting a broker that's involved if there is one involved, really getting to know the seller in a positive manner. I always recommend whether it's a $35,000 site and it could apply to 3,500 as well, or a 3.5 million dollar site, if you're buying it, it's your money, you worked hard for it, get on a plane, spend an extra thousand dollars stay in a Holiday Inn whatever and meet the person face to face. Do a Zoom or Skype conference call so you can see them and talk to them but meet them face to face before you close the transaction. You can go under LOI in advance but I just don't think there's a better substitute for a handshake, having a lunch or dinner or beer and getting a better feel for them. Of course, you've got to do that due diligence and that research and hire experts like yourself or [inaudible 00:35:14.5] whoever might do the research if you don't have it to protect your money. It's something you worked hard for and I can tell you right now that when you make an investment and you blow it, it's really really hard to pull the trigger again. I know a lot of people that have done that. I know more people that have been incredibly successful and then unsuccessful. But those that thought they knew everything and thought that everybody was kind and trustworthy like they were and they pulled the trigger and something changed in the world, there was a shift with an algorithm update or whatnot and things just fall apart. They can fall apart very quickly. So lots of research meet somebody face to face, use the tools that you're talking about, the Ahrefs and SEMrush, check for PBN things of that nature. You know most people are good but it's the few bad ones that you just want to avoid in my opinion, in my experience. As far as up the top line revenue you think you know if somebody that can do this maybe they're making $10,000 a month that they do really well, how many hours a week are we talking about that is going to take to operate a business of this nature? Chris: It's definitely if … so for I guess it depends. For me, I'll give … I can really only speak to my own experiences. So for that site that like my bigger site that I had before I sold it, it was probably 15 hours a week or so and then the rest of my time was on other projects. So it wasn't like a full time thing because I was doing it outside my day job in the first place and then I only added a little bit more time because then I thought okay well I've got this new time. I don't want to have all my eggs in one basket because now I have no job and just one primary site and then other sites that are also helpful but wouldn't be enough for me to cover my bills and for … at the time I was like okay I just want to make sure I could … I don't have to go back and get a job. Joe: [inaudible 00:37:01.3] Chris: And so that's kind of the approach that I took and it worked for that site. It really depends on me and a lot of times too with Amazon Affiliate Sites especially, you're able to hire out for a lot of aspects of the process of building; either building, maintaining, any aspect to that because it's just content creation and there are a lot of writers that you can find. They can cover that part. And so if you're not doing it yourself and you're finding ways to get yourself out of that process then it can be much further reduced. Now I try and just … for me it was I try to only come up with ideas and then work with people that can help implement a lot of these or to … it's more just about trying to really limit the amount of time I spend on actually like creating content for instance. I might like to write about something on a blog personally but if I can have someone else do it then it wouldn't make sense for you to do that. Joe: Yeah, content creation can take an awful lot of time. Chris, we're running out of time. Can you share any last minute thoughts or recommendations for those that are listening that are either building, buying, or selling Amazon Affiliate Sites; any last minute advice that you would give them? Chris: Yeah, I would just say that … well, actually I'd say if anyone is curious or has other questions feel free to … I would like to say feel free to email me. Joe: You know without a doubt I want to … let's talk about how they reach you. We'll put it in the show notes as well but you know throw out whatever email address, phone number, blog sites, anything you want to share right now I'd be happy to do that. But we'll also put it in the show notes so everybody can find it in writing and get a link there too. Chris: Yeah so to answer your question I'd say decide on what you want to do right? If you're trying to … and everyone probably has a different expertise or where they're at with their life, what they want to do. If you're limited by a capital and you have a lot of money to invest then it may make sense to just simply build something so you can build it up and then come to your brokers like you guys of course and then sell it and that can give you cash that would … you could then use to reinvest and do those things. And that might be something you would do while you're still at your day job. If you're already on a site where you have access to more money then buying something would make sense. And being able to then take where you're at and growing it from there. I'd really just say that decide which focus you want to go with. Make sure you find ways to differentiate. I mean I kind of bring out that this whole time but for me, everything that I've done with any business is always been for me differentiation and finding ways to do much better than the competition. Joe: That seems to be the good … best key word here is just be different. You don't want to be like everybody else; differentiate yourself. Still do all the things right, still build something that people want to come to and trust but differentiate yourself in whatever way that you can. Excellent. Chris, how do people reach you? How do they find you? Share any information you can now so that they can get in touch with you and talk about this. Chris: Yeah, so best place would probably just be UpFuel.com which is my site. We didn't talk about it much but I sell the WordPress plugin that helps people with Amazon Affiliate things as well and that's EasyAzon.com. Joe: EasyAzon.com? Chris: Yeah so if it's … if you're running WordPress and you know a lot of people do of course then that's a software you can use to help with creating links and earning more money from those links as well. Joe: Excellent. I will make sure that link is in the show notes as well. So UpFuel.com, EasyAzon.com anywhere else that you are in the world? Chris: Twitter @chrisguthrie and yeah so that's probably the main ones but I'm happy to … if any … if you're on the buying side and you're just looking for second opinion, I try and I've just done well with trying to provide value and people with no expectation, no return and then things work out so- Joe: I agree. Just help people have good conversations and it comes back around. All right man listen I appreciate it Chris thanks so much for your time. Hopefully, folks that are either building buying or selling Amazon affiliate sites will get some good resources here. Thanks for your time today I appreciate it. Chris: Thanks.   Links: Upfuel.com: An up to date article with respect to the Amazon affiliate niche. Easyazon.com: The plugin that a lot of WordPress users install as well (they have over 10,000 installs). AMASuite.com: Discover products and how to differentiate and source them inexpensively.

Chris Guthrie teaches entrepreneurs how to start or grow their internet businesses depending on which stage of the journey they’re in. He got started with Amazon FBA which he quickly dominated. Since his success in selling on Amazon, he quickly discovered the pain points of other sellers and created Salesbacker to address those pain points. Quotes To Remember: “A lot of times, you just have to look at the market.” “If you are ever doing on the software side, you really try to offer something as minimal as you can.” “If you could find a way to offer a free version, then you should.” “You just got to decide whether it’s not worth it to you - the hard work.”   What You’ll Learn: Turnaround time of WordPress Plug-in vs. SAS Company How to efficiently maintain a software Making profits out of a software How to price a software   Key Links From The Show: Chris’ Site Chris’ YouTube EasyAzon Salesbacker Aweber ConvertKit Samcart ClickFunnels   Recommended Books: Purple Cow by Seth Godin The Dip by Seth Godin The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss   Support Breakthrough Success On Patreon Please consider supporting Breakthrough Success on Patreon. I publish five episodes per week which I carefully prepare for, and I choose to not run ads in my podcast to enhance the listener experience. I offer my patrons various perks, and even a donation as small as $1/mo would make a big difference for growing and maintaining Breakthrough Success. You can support Breakthrough Success by going here.

In this episode, Chris talks about some of the products people are selling on Amazon and why did he build Salesbacker and how can Salesbacker help Amazon sellers

Have you ever wanted to get the real scoop on which tools will help you succeed the most as you build your ecommerce business? How do you pick which ones to buy and when? On this episode of The Amazing Seller, you’ll hear from Scott as he breaks down which tools are the most helpful for the early stages of your brand building process. Don’t get duped by the hype and excitement of every tool that comes out on the marketplace. Take the hard-won wisdom that Scott has collected over the years and learn from his perspective. Don’t miss a minute of this helpful episode! Why should you use ecommerce tools? As you grow into your role as a business leader, you are going to have to make tough decisions like when to hire staff or virtual assistants. Before you even get to that step, you should really consider utilizing the wide range of ecommerce tools that are available in the marketplace today. Why should you use ecommerce tools to help you build your business? Simply put, an automated and streamlined system will save you time and money in the long run. To hear Scott’s take on why successful ecommerce business leaders use tools, make sure to listen to this episode of The Amazing Seller! What is Give Away Boost? You’ve heard Scott talk about building a launch list but did you know that there is a tool that he’s developed with his friend, Chris Guthrie that will help sellers like you get your list started? The tool is called Give Away Boost and it was built from the ground up specifically for ecommerce sellers. Scott has put this tool into action with his new brand which has been able to put together a list of about 20,000. Find out how you can get similar results using this plugin tool as Scott expands on this and more helpful tools on this episode of The Amazing Seller! Why you should use Convert Kit. One of the biggest questions out there when it comes to utilizing a launch list is what to do once you’ve built the list. The last thing you want is to stress out about when to send out your content and how to remind your followers of the great deals and contests that your brand is pushing. The ecommerce tool, Convert Kit will help you as you navigate the next step of pushing content to your assembled email list. Scott is confident that Convert Kit will help you push content and emails to your email list better than most of the other options in the marketplace today. Hear more about Convert Kit and other helpful ecommerce tools from Scott on this episode of The Amazing Seller! How Fetcher can help you make sense of all your accounting needs. Let’s face it, most business leaders aren’t equipped to handle all the accounting attention and details that are needed for a business to run smoothly. Most leaders suffer through the ins and outs of accounting for way too long and end up driving themselves crazy. If you can’t afford an employee to take care of the accounting piece for you, consider using an easy to understand accounting tool like Fetcher. Learn about all the cool aspects and advantages that Fetcher brings to the table on this episode of The Amazing Seller! Don’t miss this informative episode! OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE AMAZING SELLER [0:03] Scott’s introduction to this episode of the podcast! [5:00] Why should you use ecommerce tools? [10:00] How Scope can help sellers like you. [12:30] What is “Give Away Boost?” [16:00] Scott talks about how you can use the tool, Convert Kit. [18:00] What is the benefit of using Salesbacker? [21:00] How the tool, Fetcher can help your business. [26:00] What is Ignite and how can it help? [31:00] More tools and tips to help you succeed. [34:00] How split testing is made easier with Splitly. [37:00] What is Clickfunnels and how can it help you? RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE www.theamazingseller.com/resources www.theamazingseller.com/js www.theamazingseller.com/start www.theamazingseller.com/scope www.theamazingseller.com/boost www.theamazingseller.com/buildlist www.theamazingseller.com/email www.theamazingseller.com/followup www.theamazingseller.com/fetcher www.theamazingseller.com/ignite www.theamazingseller.com/ppc www.theamazingseller.com/splitly Salesbacker www.cpaonfire.com www.taxjar.com Mail Chimp Convert Kit Merchant Words ClickFunnels

In This Session we are focusing in on email marketing sequences for your Amazon business. We talk through the tone of your email and the language you use, how many emails to have in your sequence and how often you should send without damaging your relationship.  How many emails in your email marketing sequence for a given product? Recommend a 3 emails sequence for most products as you ask for things twice to get results Some send 4 others send 2 or 1 In Email 1 – here’s the product you bought from us and we’re just checking all is okay For Email 2 – asking for product review or seller feedback Then Email 3 – ask a second time Go for 3 emails as gets better results People change the email marketing sequence depending on what they are selling A supplement product takes longer to show results for users so the email sequence fires longer after they have received the product Where as a desk lamp, they just pull it out of the box and use it so can be sent an email soonerAmazon also send emails to customers so consider that too Recommended sequence 1st email goes after straight after order completed – customer service email content 5 days later – ask for product review or buyer feedback 10 days later – ask for product review of use of product... Visit HERE - For detailed show notes  Subscribe Here To Be The First To Get Updates and New Podcast Episodes

The title is not meant to mislead you. Chris stepped back from selling 7 figures on Amazon this past year to allow him to focus on his family and his and his partners private label business. Can you find someone who shares the vision as well as you do? Can you give without expectation? Can you guess what you get back? Mentioned: https://www.facebook.com/Guthrie.Chris (Chris’ Facebook contact) Sponsors: https://amazingfreedom.clickfunnels.com/webinar-join?affiliate_id=470572 (Gaye's Million Dollar Arbitrage List) http://ecommercemomentum.karenlocker.zaxaa.com/o/7525960235600/1 (Solutions4ecommerce) http://sellerlabs.com/momentum (Scope from Sellerlabs) http://trygodaddy.com/click.track?CID=344983&AFID=419630&godaddy.com=momentum (GoDaddy) http://trygrasshopper.com/click.track?CID=336231&AFID=419630&grasshopper.com=momentum (Grasshopper) Transcript: (note- this is a new tool I am trying out so it is not perfect) Stephen:                             [00:00]                     It just want to jump in and mention my sponsors doing them all in the front. So I hope people appreciate that that’s kind of a new thing that’s been going out in the podcast world and this episode is such a great episode. I’m so excited. I really am. Gail is BS. Interview I hope you listen to that number to 38 and it just blew me away because she is the real deal that arbitraged group she’s running is just rocking it. I’m in it and I’m watching just people just not going at it. And you know for$149 for you to be able to get in there. There is a free week that she’s giving if you go through my link and I have a link on this episode. But I mean to me that’s how you can build up this Q4 and if you even can’t get it get on the waiting list because she’s going to pull from there when somebody drops for whatever reason. Stephen:                             [00:45]                     So get in there. Gail is BS. Million dollar arbitrage I have a link. And you’re also going to get that seven day free trial silver lab scope I can’t talk enough about it. I just got another note from somebody saying hey what I was able to do was go up and blah blah blah. That is so cool to me hearing those successes and hearing that you heard it through my show just makes me tingle because it’s like getting exposed to that stuff is how you figure it out right. Somebody else has somebody else smarter than me has figured it out. I’m just bringing you the information it’s so neat to see and so scope’s going to let you really work on your private label wholesale and help you get the keywords right. Stephen:                             [01:23]                     Ultimately that’s how you get the buybacks. You got to know what people were searching for. You put that in there you get that adjusted to know exactly what they’re searching for and boom you get found right being found on that page one. How do you do it by knowing the right keywords. How do you do that. Look at your competitors and use their keywords. That’s how you do it. And sculp allows you to do that. It’s just a powerful thing. Solutions for e-commerce. Karen Lochore you’ve heard me talk a lot about her if you haven’t met her. You should. Smart lady who knows what she’s doing. For example today had four items where I forgot what they call that were flagged for quality. They were quality alerts. That’s Stephen:                             [02:01]                     what it was and turns out there’s an image issue and she’s like well yeah there’s Amazon’s now making a change it has to be 80 percent blah blah blah blah blah. I’m like I’ve lost interest already. Could you help me. And she’s like fixed. That’s the value of having an account manager. Right. Or when I get those calls Hey...

On episode 47, host Ben Rice visits an undisclosed location to talk about the state of the beer union. With him are Andy Armstrong of American River Brewing, his wife Lea, Kyle Leddy of Moonraker Brewing, his wife Claire, his daughter Olive, and Sacramento Beer Group founder Chris Guthrie. We talk about the Lagunitas and Wicked Weed buyouts, AB InBev's purchase of the entirety of the South African hop crop, and the future of the beleaguered 12 Rounds Brewing in Sacramento. PLUS Ben sings some metal, Kyle puts on a snazzy child's jacket, Chris does his best Olive impersonations, muchos chugs, and more! Follow Barley & Me on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook @barleyandmepod Follow American River Brewing on Facebook and Instagram @americanriverbrewing Follow Moonraker Brewing on Facebook and Instagram @moonrakerbrewing Artwork by Jessica DiMesio Intro Music: "JamRoc" by Breez (@mr4proaudio) ALSO you can now get $5 off your first Lyft ride by using the promo code "BarleyAndMe". Each new account using this code helps to pay for Lyft rides to and from locations, as we try to expand to other areas. Thanks so much for listening!

It’s finally here, the one where we talk with the hosts of the world-famous First Mondays podcast, Ian Samuel and Dan Epps. Topics include physics conundrums, podcasts (05:13), the politics of Supreme Court nominations (27:08), and radically changing the rules governing the Supreme Court’s docket (54:54). This show’s links: First Mondays (http://www.firstmondays.fm) Dan Epps’ faculty profile (http://law.wustl.edu/faculty_profiles/profiles.aspx?id=10752) and writing (https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=462731) Ian Samuel’s faculty profile (http://hls.harvard.edu/faculty/directory/11599/Samuel/) and writing (https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=936551) Feynman on mirrors (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msN87y-iEx0) Randall Munroe, The Goddamn Airplane on the Goddamn Treadmill (https://blog.xkcd.com/2008/09/09/the-goddamn-airplane-on-the-goddamn-treadmill/) Randall Munroe, xkcd: 28-Hour Day (https://xkcd.com/320/) Christian Turner, Podcasts (https://www.hydratext.com/blog/2014/1/11/podcasts) (and somehow this post about Streamers (https://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/14575/streamers) is still online) The Bernie Sanders Show (https://www.sanders.senate.gov/bernies-podcast) Chris Guthrie and Tracey George, Remaking the United States Supreme Court in the Courts' of Appeals Image (https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1374449) Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt (https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=12719084930434459940); Planned Parenthood v. Casey (https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=6298856056242550994) Nina Martin, The Supreme Court Decision That Made a Mess of Abortion Rights (http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/02/supreme-court-decision-mess-abortion-rights) Barry Friedman, The Will of the People (https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Will_of_the_People.html?id=V004NCn4Vm8C) Daniel Epps and William Ortman, The Lottery Docket (https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2928275) John Duffy, The Federal Circuit in the Shadow of the Solicitor General (http://www.gwlr.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/78-3-Duffy.pdf) Washington Energy Co. v. United States (https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=297528725569885130) Oral Argument 28: A Wonderful Catastrophe (http://oralargument.org/28) (background for Joe’s Erie question) Expression Hair Design v. Schneiderman (https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/16pdf/15-1391_g31i.pdf); Guido Calabresi, Federal and State Courts: Restoring a Workable Balance (http://digitalcommons.law.yale.edu/fss_papers/2123/) The First Mondays Patreon page (https://www.patreon.com/firstmondays) Special Guests: Dan Epps and Ian Samuel.

Host Ben Rice sits down with Bryan Crass, brewery manager of Out of Bounds Brewing, in Rocklin, CA, along with Abel Gomez and Chris Guthrie, founders of the Sacramento Beer Group Facebook group. We talk about Out of Bounds's new Powdered Toast Man and their slowly-growing barrel program, before diving into long-winded diatribes about the evolution of the beer world and drunk adults at breweries being worse than dogs or children. This podcast also seamlessly mobilizes itself to record in a few different locations. Gotta spot em all! I hope you enjoy our wonderful dissection of all things Sacramento beer. Follow Out of Bounds on Twitter/Instagram @OOBBC Follow Barley & Me on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook @barleyandmepod Join Sacramento Beer Group via Facebook Groups Intro: "JamRoc" by Breez (Twitter @4proaudio Instagram @mr4proaudio) Logo by Jessica DiMesio (Instagram @a_living_cliche)

Many people who get started selling products online, whether on eBay, Amazon, or other sites run into snags and obstacles that they can’t figure out how to overcome. Wouldn’t it be great if someone who’s been in those shoes would advise you on what to do to overcome your obstacles? That’s why this “Ask Scott” episode on Fridays exists. Scott wants to help you navigate the sometimes troublesome world of online sales so you can be more successful and confident when it comes to marketing your products and building a business through private label sales or any other kind of online business. Be sure you listen so you can learn how to ask Scott a question. Under what circumstances can you place the ™ symbol on your products? A listener called in because he has a pending trademark application submitted to cover his private label product but he’s not sure what the rules are for whether or not he can include the trademark symbol on his product yet. Thankfully, this guy was smart enough to ask somebody who’s been down that road before - Scott Voelker. Scott’s got a very helpful answer for this listener but he also throws in some thoughts about whether or not worrying about those kinds of little details is really worth the energy and effort. You’ll find out what Scott thinks about it on this episode. Can Amazon re-sell your products they have damaged? If you are selling products on Amazon, every now and then you will receive a notification that one of your products was damaged in Amazon’s warehouse. When that happens the company typically asks you what you want to do with it and one of the options is to have Amazon reimburse you for the sales price of the product. What happens if you decide to take the reimbursement? Could Amazon then relist the product as “used” and list it under your original product listing? A listener to the show called in to say, “That’s what’s happened to me!” and wants to know what he can do about it. You can hear Scott’s answer on this episode of The Amazing Seller Is there such a thing as automated product discount codes? One of the strategies that many sellers follow during a product launch is the creation of discount codes to encourage initial sales of their product. A listener called in for this Ask Scott session to find out whether Scott knows of a way that he can produce single-use discount codes and distribute them without having to manually create them and send individual emails to every single person who wants the code. Scott has an answer for the guy on this episode, so be sure you listen to find out the best ways to use coupon codes in the current selling environment. Do you have an Amazon or online sales related question you’d like to ask? If you’re trying to build a business that sells products online, don’t reinvent the wheel or spend way too much time researching an issue on your own. Take advantage of the Friday episodes of The Amazing Seller - the Ask Scott sessions. Scott Voelker is ready to answer your questions about Amazon sales, private label, online marketing, and much more. Listen to this episode to get a feel for the kind of expertise Scott has to offer and to learn how you can ask your own questions. OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE AMAZING SELLER [0:03] Scott’s introduction to the podcast! [2:30] The pivot Scott is making in his business (not just a focus on Amazon). [4:01] QUESTION ONE: Under what circumstances can I place the “™” symbol on my name/product? [9:01] QUESTION TWO: Amazon is relisting my damaged products under my listing. What should I do? [14:57] QUESTION THREE: Can I set up single-use coupon codes without having to send manual emails to each person who is interested? RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE www.TheAmazingSeller.com/273 - Episode with Chris Guthrie www.TheAmazingSeller.com/ask - Ask your own questions www.TheAmazingSeller.com/186 - Episode about copyright and trademarks Aweber MailChimp www.TheAmazingSeller.com/LIVE - Scott’s upcoming LIVE event.  

The recent changes to the Amazon review policies have lots of people panicking about whether there’s a future selling products on Amazon. Since everyone is still rebounding and trying to figure out what the new rules mean for sellers Scott thought he’d take some time to chat with his friend Chris Guthrie who has made it his business to help sellers communicate with their customers. The two of them chat about what these changes mean practically for sellers on this episode. These two guys know their stuff so you’ll get some great insights from what they are thinking and the strategies they are putting in place to help their businesses continue moving forward. When you play on somebody else’ playground the rules change. If you are going to try to sell your wares on a platform you don’t own (like Amazon, or Facebook, or eBay, or whatever) you’re going to have to play by their rules. And they get to set the rules. And change them. That’s what has happened on Amazon lately and though many people are crying that it’s not fair what you need to understand is that the people who run Amazon get to decide what they are going to require you to do as a seller on Amazon. Period. So you’ve not only got to learn to play by the Amazon rules, you’ve got to adapt each time they change them. Chris and Scott think it’s good for you and for your business to have to pivot like that. It keeps you on your toes and makes you get creative when your competition may not do the same level of work to stay alive. The Amazon review changes kill the strategy of approaching top reviewers. It used to be a great strategy to contact the top Amazon reviewers and offer them a free product if they would leave a review. The belief was that doing so added some clout to your product if a top reviewer left a good review. But with the recent changes to Amazon’s review policy that strategy is out because you can no longer give a discount on your products in exchange for a review. You can hear other effects this change has on the way you build your business and market your products, on this episode of The Amazing Seller. A new way to promote your products to your email list and boost sales. Even though you are not allowed to give a discount in exchange for a review, if you’ve done the work of building up a mailing list you can use it to get some spikes in your product sales. For example, you could contact your list and tell them that on this upcoming Saturday you’re going to be offering a $10 off price for 6 hours only. Those people will be the only ones who know about the discount and will go to get the deal. You should sell a good number of products over that time span and your sales ranking will rise accordingly. Then you just need to follow up via Amazon email and your own list to encourage those purchasers to leave a product review. Scott and Chris have more ideas like this on this episode of the podcast. Private Label sales on Amazon are far from over. Many people are all doom and gloom about the recent changes on Amazon but on this episode, Scott and his buddy Chris Guthrie chat about why there is still plenty of opportunities for people to get started selling products on Amazon. The recent changes actually make thing similar to how Amazon was when both Scott and Chris began their sales journey on Amazon. In that respect the changes don’t seem all that bad to them. They share some new strategies and approaches to building an Amazon business on this episode so be sure you listen. OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE AMAZING SELLER [0:03] Scott’s introduction to this episode of the podcast discussion with Chris Guthrie! [3:40] A shout out to the iTunes reviewers and Facebook community. [6:20] Chris’ initial thoughts about the changes happening on Amazon. [9:20] How this change is similar to changes Google has made over the years. [13:20] The reason top reviewer requests are not possible anymore. [19:30] Why building an email list is your best asset. [23:12] How a list can be built with a contest then a flash email to discount for everyone. [25:03] What’s really SPAM and what isn’t? [34:00] The impact of this on previous reviews that have been left for your products. [36:49] Why sales on Amazon are not over. [39:44] Changes like these have always been happening on all platforms. [46:16] Get in on the next LIVE event. RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE www.TheAmazingSeller.com/246 and www.TheAmazingSeller.com/77 SalesBacker - Chris’ software www.TheAmazingSeller.com/resources (affiliate links) www.NichePursuits.com www.TheAmazingSeller.com/LIVE

One of the most important parts of running a successful Amazon private label business is making sure you are establishing your brand and products as high quality and reputable. A HUGE part of doing that is getting honest reviews from your customers. If you don’t know how to effectively get those reviews you’re going to have a very hard time building a successful sales channel. On this episode, Scott and his friend Chris Guthrie are here to walk you through the ins and outs of reviews - what makes a good one, why you need them, and how to get them. Be sure you take the time to listen. It could increase your sales tremendously. Amazon is cracking down on reviews. Here’s how to keep your product reviews safe. There’s a lot of talk lately about Amazon’s attitude when it comes to product reviews - and it’s actually more than JUST talk. Amazon has adjusted its terms of service and is cracking down on reviews that it considers being fake or in some way manipulated. There’s only one way to ensure that your product reviews are safe from the Amazon crackdown and that’s to get real, legitimate reviews in the first place. This episode of the podcast is dedicated to making sure you understand the right and wrong ways to go about that - including some thoughts about the use of review groups, so be sure you listen. What makes a real review and what makes a fake review? You hear the terms “real” and “fake” applied to product reviews on Amazon all the time. But do you know what constitutes a real or fake review? On this episode of The Amazing Seller podcast, Scott has asked his buddy, Chris Guthrie to come on the show and unpack the details of what makes a good review and what contributes to the kind of reviews that Amazon has been removing from product pages. It’s their hope that using the information you hear on this episode you’ll be able to not only safeguard your product reviews from being removed but also get better quality reviews in the first place. Why you need to follow up with your customers via Amazon’s integrated email. You may not even have known but Amazon provides an email contact option within your seller account that you can use to directly contact your customers. Using that email tool is the best and most effective way to follow up with your customers once they’ve purchased your product - and part of that follow-up strategy can and should include a reminder to your customers to leave an honest review for your product. We all need reminders now and then, right? Your customers are the same way. Find out how you can use the email solution Amazon has provided on this episode - and learn how you can automate it so you don’t have to worry about it ever again! Keep seller feedback in mind - not just reviews. This episode of The Amazing Seller podcast is all about product reviews - OK, well not ALL about reviews - there’s a section right toward the end of the conversation where Scott and his buddy Chris Guthrie chat a bit about seller feedback and its role in making sure your account and products stay in Amazon’s good graces. Sometimes in the rush to get good reviews we forget about seller feedback, which can be a mistake. Be sure you hear this part of the conversation. It could keep your account from being banned for shut down temporarily. OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE AMAZING SELLER [0:03] Scott’s introduction to the podcast! [0:30] A LIVE review workshop coming up that you can attend for free! [4:10] Review clubs: should you be using them? [5:58] Does Amazon respect reviews that come from product promotions? [7:37] The purpose and reason behind getting legitimate reviews (social proof). [11:25] Why follow up email to customers is crucial - and how to do it! [14:58] Gifts you can expect from the upcoming free webinar. [25:30] Things to be careful of when asking customers for reviews. [28:50] Chris’ advice to get your first initial batch of reviews. [34:25] How does seller feedback relate to reviews and why is it important? [41:14] The importance of looking at your business and sales from a long term perspective. RESOURCES MENTIONED ON THIS EPISODE: www.TheAmazingSeller.com/ReviewWorkshop www.TheAmazingSeller.com/77 www.SalesBacker.com www.TheAmazingSeller.com/245 - Episode with Karon Thackston

Chris Guthrie got had his interest in online business peaked by a pop-up ad on video game. From there, he started a journey into learning how to really make money online. Lucky for Chris, he started creating income before he actually needed it, and by the time he needed it, he had been let go from his job. From there, Chris found it to be a better strategy to build software rather than to just affiliate mark. While affiliate marketing still remained a large tool in his tool box, he began focusing on software to make the lives of other marketers easy. With the advent of Amazon private labeling, Chris very quickly saw success selling on Amazon. It wasn't long before he saw the pain point of other sellers and created Salesbacker. Join us as we dig into his journey. Chris' Favorite Quote: “You can have anything in life you want, if you help enough other people get what they want.” — Zig Zigglar Chris' Favorite Books: The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich Get Your Free Audio Book Links From Today's Show:www.upfuel.com www.sellercast.com www.salesbacker.com

Chris Guthrie got had his interest in online business peaked by a pop-up ad on video game. From there, he started a journey into learning how to really make money online. Lucky for Chris, he started creating income before he actually needed it, and by the time he needed it, he had been let go from his job. From there, Chris found it to be a better strategy to build software rather than to just affiliate mark. While affiliate marketing still remained a large tool in his tool box, he began focusing on software to make the lives of other marketers easy. With the advent of Amazon private labeling, Chris very quickly saw success selling on Amazon. It wasn't long before he saw the pain point of other sellers and created Salesbacker. Join us as we dig into his journey. Chris' Favorite Quote: “You can have anything in life you want, if you help enough other people get what they want.” — Zig Zigglar Chris' Favorite Books: The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich Get Your Free Audio Book Links From Today's Show:www.upfuel.com www.sellercast.com www.salesbacker.com

Chris Guthrie got had his interest in online business peaked by a pop-up ad on video game. From there, he started a journey into learning how to really make money online. Lucky for Chris, he started creating income before he actually needed it, and by the time he needed it, he had been let go from his job. From there, Chris found it to be a better strategy to build software rather than to just affiliate mark. While affiliate marketing still remained a large tool in his tool box, he began focusing on software to make the lives of other marketers easy. With the advent of Amazon private labeling, Chris very quickly saw success selling on Amazon. It wasn’t long before he saw the pain point of other sellers and created Salesbacker. Join us as we dig into his journey. Chris’ Favorite Quote: “You can have anything in life you want, if you help enough other people get what they want.” — Zig Zigglar Chris’ Favorite Books: The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich Get Your Free Audio Book Links From Today’s Show:www.upfuel.com www.sellercast.com www.salesbacker.com

In this interview, Stefan interviews Chris Guthrie on how to make money online with Amazon affiliate marketing. Chris Guthrie is a successful internet marketer and entrepreneur. He has had massive success in a number of different niches and business models, from affiliate marketing, to selling to Amazon, to creating and selling his own software. Amazon has it's own affiliate program, known as Amazon associates. This gives you the ability to promote ANY product on Amazon as an affiliate and earn a commission in doing so. Chris has made over $1,000,000 in affiliate marketing commissions over his lifetime as an internet entrepreneur and shares many of his strategies on Amazon affiliate marketing in this interview. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

We are taking a break today from our private label podcasts and talking to a legend within our community, Chris Guthrie. If you haven't heard his name you most likely have come across projects he has been instrumental in creating or partnering on. Like Sales backer, Ama Suite, Easy Azon and UpFuel.com Chris is the […] The post 108 OEA Podcast – Learn From the Master of Making Money On The Internet, Chris Guthrie appeared first on Online Empire Academy.

Stefan and Chris discuss everything from how to find a profitable product to sell on Amazon, to marketing and selling your Amazon product, to creating the lifestyle you want through the internet! This interview will inspire you and also reveal a lot of practical tips for making money on Amazon. Chris Guthrie is also the founder of AmaSuite, a popular Amazon keyword research software that helps Amazon sellers find and analyze profitable products to sell on Amazon, as well as other cool features. In this video interview, Chris also does a live demo of how he uses AmaSuite to find profitable products to sell on Amazon, as well as the other amazing features. He even includes an exclusive AmaSuite discount for all subscribers of Project Life Mastery! Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Today's question comes from AJ, who asks about domain flipping (the buying and reselling of domain names). Is it a good income strategy? In this episode I talk about a principle Nicole Dean shared with me in Smart Passive Income Episode 009 (http://www.smartpassiveincome.com/spi-009-make-money-by-making-the-web-a-more-wonderful-place-with-nicole-dean/). I also discuss flipping websites using Flippa (https://flippa.com/) and my friend Chris Guthrie who has done this successfully (http://upfuel.com/). I tried this once with http://beginnergolftips.com/. Do you have a question about income strategies you've read about online? Record it at http://www.askpat.com/. Today's sponsor is Freshbooks. Go to http://www.GetFreshBooks.com and enter "Ask Pat" for more information.

Chris Guthrie introduces the new Sellercast podcast in this brief show introduction. Sellercast is a show focused on helping ecommerce business owners that are selling physical products on Amazon to grow their businesses. If you are a brand owner or selling private label products using Amazon FBA this podcast should be perfect for you. Get involved and ask a question about selling on Amazon and Chris may answer your question live on a future episode of Sellercast. You can read the show notes and look at the resources mentioned in this episode by clicking here. Also, if you'd like to get more reviews for your products on Amazon check out Salesbacker.

An email list is an asset that is yours forever.   It’s a tool you can use to make your products known to people who are perfectly matched for them, and no company or person can keep you from using that list to increase your sales, reviews, and success. If you aren’t building an email list right now, you’ve got to start. You can use the tips Scott shares in this episode to get a jump on the process, using mostly free tools. And in the end, even if you do need to invest a small amount of money in building your list, you’ll recoup that cash quickly once those you target through your email campaigns begin responding to your products. Find out how to do it on this episode. Amazon won’t give you the email address of people who buy your products. But that doesn’t mean you can’t build an email list of your own.   How can you do it? It’s really not that difficult to figure out, and once you do it, you’ve got a “launch list” to market to for every new product in your niche that you develop and place on Amazon. Imagine the impact of being able to target your new products directly to people who have already expressed interest in your products. You’ll have a jumpstart on Amazon reviews, sales, and ultimately, success. In this episode of The Amazing Seller Scott is going to give you his top 6 tips for building your own email list.   How you can use a Facebook fan page to capture emails and build a community.   Anyone can create a Facebook fan page… it’s really pretty simple. But how do you get people into the group? Even more importantly, how do you get people into the group who are truly interested in what you have to sell? That’s where Facebook ads come in. For a very small amount you can specifically target people who have already indicated that they are interested in the types of things you sell. You can set daily limits on what you spend, tweak your ad campaign at any time, and cancel when you feel it’s done all you need it to do. This is one of Scott’s favorite ways to build a fan page, which you can then use to build your email list. Find out the details on this episode.   Tomoson is another way you can build an email list of people who want what you have to sell.   Tomoson is a website dedicated to connecting review bloggers and the people who have products needing reviews. That sounds like you, doesn’t it? Using their platform you can locate bloggers who are interested in reviewing the kinds of products you sell, make contact with them offering to send them your product in exchange for a review, and increase your exposure through their review and through the things they say about your product on their blog. It’s a great way to increase interest in your products with the potential of building your email list with the addresses of those who respond. Find out how Scott uses Tomoson on this episode of The Amazing Seller.   You can also use Amasuite to find and filter reviewers who are interested in the type of products you sell.   Amasuite is Chris Guthrie’s amazing tool that helps you research and filter through the Amazon listings to find the exact products that might be big sellers. But there’s tons more to Amasuite than just product research. You can use the filter functionality in the program to find people likely to review a product like yours so you can reach out to them for a review. It’s another amazing way you can get your products into the hands of interested reviewers, which in turn can increase your product’s profile in Amazon. Find out how Scott uses Amasuite to gain more subscribers to his email list, and how you can get $100 off the software - in this episode.   OUTLINE OF THIS INTERVIEW EPISODE OF THE AMAZING SELLER   [0:05] Introduction to building your “launch list.” [1:58] Your invitation to one of Scott’s live workshops. [2:41] A shout out to “Geekerson” - one of the TAS iTunes listeners. [4:39] An asset that is YOURS, forever - your own “launch list.” [5:26] Create a Facebook fan page and post to it daily. [9:45] Run ads to funnel people to your Facebook fan page. [11:40] Build your own email list using Facebook ads & an autoresponder, or using Tomoson. [15:26] Contact the top Amazon reviewers asking for reviews on your product. [16:51] Scott’s invite to talks to a “Top Amazon Reviewer” - any takers? [18:32] Use Amasuite to find and filter the reviewers that apply to your product (get $100 off using Scott’s code - www.TheAmazingSeller.com/ams - affiliate link) [21:16] Build an email list using the reviewers of your competitor’s products, or people interested in your niche (again, using Amasuite).. [26:19] Why building an email list is vital to your future sales and success. [27:28] Recap of the 6 tips to build your own email list.   LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE   www.TheAmazingSeller.com/AMS -   Scott’s free workshop  - http://www.TheAmazingSeller.com/workshop   www.Tomoson.com - an additional way to promote your products. Amazon’s Top Reviewers

This episode proof that you can relatively quickly build a successful Amazon FBA business!   Tim Holterman is a regular guy. He worked for years in a good job, working to take care of his responsibilities and life. He came to a point where he wanted to change his life so that he could spend more time with his family. He heard of the possibility of making a change through beginning an Amazon sales business from Chris Guthrie (a previous guest on The Amazing Seller podcast). So he decided to take the leap and get started building his own business. He asked lots of questions to know that what others were doing was possible for him. Once he was convinced, Tim began building his business - and he did all of it without ever signing up for a paid course of any kind. He invested a portion of his salary each month to building his business. Listen to this episode - part 1 of a lengthy conversation where Tim tells his story and how he got over $6,000 in sales within the first 30 days of beginning his FBA Business.   Tim’s product research process for his Amazon business began with the purchase of one piece of software.   Amasuite was the software Tim began with, simply because he trusted it’s creator, Chris Guthrie. He started researching the top 100 sellers in lots of categories. He drilled down into those products by setting up filters to weed out products he didn’t think were good options. Some of those products were not an option because the niche was too saturated. Others he simply didn’t think were good. Through that process Tim found a product he felt good about. He wasn’t concerned at that point with building a brand, though he does feel that is the best way to begin. He just found products that might sell well and made a decision. The next step was sourcing the product. Find out how he went about his product sourcing in this episode.   Tim’s smart way of getting a sample of the product he was interested in.   When Tim researched his product on Alibaba (An online Chinese directory of product providers), he found one of the exact products that were listed on Amazon. He felt there was room in the market for him to offer the exact same product, so he simply ordered one of his competitor’s products from Amazon.  He accomplished two things at once by doing this. He got to see the actual product - it’s quality, packaging, etc. AND he got to see how his competitor was presenting the product, including a misspelling on their packaging that hasn’t been corrected to this day! Find out more about the quality control process and getting samples of your potential product in this edition of The Amazing Seller.   Shipping a private label product to Amazon - directly from the product supplier!   The supplier Tim was able to find had experience shipping products directly to Amazon so he thought it was worth trying. He bought his own UPC to put on the products, printed out his own labels to brand the product as his, and the supplier put the labels on the products, printed out shipping labels, and sent the products directly to Amazon for Tim’s account. It was a tremendous time saving step that enabled Tim to keep one more piece of the process off his table so that he could fulfill the goal of spending more time with his family. Hear exactly how Tim went about working out this deal on this episode.   Getting reviews for a new product - Tim’s unique strategy.   Getting reviews for your Amazon product is essential to begin moving your product up in Amazon’s search results, and giving your product a sense of legitimacy. Tim knew that and wanted to boost his product through getting some quick reviews. The first step he took is common sense, but one not many people do. He enlisted people he knew who had Amazon Prime accounts (so they could get free shipping) and asked them to purchase and review the product, and he would pay them back the purchase price. Essentially, he’s giving away the products for free but through Amazon it registers as a full-blow purchase. It was an ingenious strategy that got him some great initial reviews and had a dramatic impact on his product’s ranking. From there, he did a few product giveaways through Tomoson… and you can hear the rest of how Tim got reviews by listening to the show!     OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE AMAZING SELLER   Welcome to this episode - a victory story from a regular guy… you’ll love it! Introduction from Tim Holterman, a member of The Amazing Seller Facebook community. Tim’s story - where he came from and how he got into Amazon FBA sales. How Tim began researching his first product. Sourcing the product came next, and Tim shares exactly how he did it. How Tim got samples of his product to see if he wanted to purchase larger quantities - it’s a smart idea that killed two birds with one stone. Getting his product to Amazon - a partnership of sorts Tim worked out with his supplier. What Tim did while his supplier was producing the products (a 2 week turnaround). What Tim did to promote reviews of his product. Get part 2 of this interview at http://TheAmazingSeller.com/84   LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE   The Amazing Seller Facebook Community -  http://www.TheAmazingSeller.com/FB   Scott’s free workshop  - http://www.TheAmazingSeller.com/workshop

Have you been monitoring your Amazon account? Particularly the product reviews?   You should be. Monitoring your account is the only way you can keep tabs on what is going on with your products sales. You want to do that you can make adjustments and tweaks to your products, prices, and listings to maximize your Amazon FBA sales. If you’ve been monitoring your account, you may have noticed that some of your product reviews have been removed by Amazon. What’s up with that? Amazon has been cracking down on people who are getting reviews in illegitimate ways, and even removing some that seem questionable. In this episode of The Amazing Seller, Scott is going to walk you through what’s going on, why it’s happening, and what you can do to safeguard yourself and your reviews as best as you can.   Here’s how you should think about those “base reviews” you get during your product launch phase.   The reviews you push to get by giving away free or discounted products have one purpose only - to give your product some social proof or legitimacy so when sellers see your product, they feel good that it’s legitimate and good quality. That way they’re more prone to buy it. Once they do, you should be following up with them to encourage reviews from them, the purchasers of your product who paid full price. At that point you’ll be building on top of your base reviews with organic reviews. When you do this right, it won’t matter if Amazon comes in and removes some of those initial base reviews you got. Why? Because you’re replacing them with organic ones - which is exactly what Amazon wants you to have most of all. Listen to this episode to find out what Scott recommends when it comes to your base Amazon product reviews.   Here’s the biggest reason Amazon is removing product reviews   It’s not because you gave the products away for free in exchange for a review. It’s not because you discounted a product in exchange for a review. It’s because the person who reviewed your product did not disclose that they received the product for free in exchange for an honest review. That’s it. So when you give those products away or discount them, make sure you’re stressing to the recipients that they MUST include a disclaimer similar to that when they leave a review for the product on Amazon. If they don’t, it may not only wind up not helping you, it could actually hurt you by the loss of that review. It would also turn out to be a waste of their time, so generously given. Listen to this episode to learn exactly how Scott recommends you stress this issue with your potential reviewers.   There’s also a theory about an additional reason product reviews are being removed by Amazon.   It has to do with what have come to be known as “review groups.” You know what they are, groups on Facebook, or some forum where people agree to exchange reviews on products. It’s a simple idea and it’s worked for a while, but many people who have a lot of experience on Amazon believe that Amazon is starting to target those groups somehow and are removing reviews that they believe may have come from those kinds of groups. It makes sense, and it’s a review tactic that could become more and more risky as months pass. Scott’s going to cover this issue in depth and give you his recommendation about review groups, so give this episode a listen.   What are the top 5 things you should do to ensure your product reviews on Amazon stick?   That question is at the heart of what Scott covers on this episode. He wants you to know how to make the most of your efforts to get reviews, so he’s holding nothing back. Here they are: (1) Understand the purpose of initial launch reviews. (2) Have reviewers include proper disclaimers. (3) Don’t rely on review groups. (4) Focus on organic sales (Pay Per Click / Pricing Strategies) (5) Use a good follow-up sequence to encourage organic reviews. Listen to this episode of The Amazing Seller to hear Scott’s explanations of each of these 5 things so you know how to maximize the “stickiness” of your product reviews on Amazon.   OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE AMAZING SELLER   Welcome to this episode - Why Amazon is removing product reviews and what to do about it. Get your own Amazing Seller shirt! - all proceeds go to charity - http:www.TheAmazingSeller.com/shirt Thanks to everyone coming to the live workshops - http://www.TheAmazingSeller.com/workshop Amazon has been removing reviews - why is it happening? Getting reviews during your launch phase - how to think about it if they vanish in months ahead. The 10 X 10 X 1 formula reviewed. Scott’s answer to an Amazing Seller Facebook Member comments about reviews Amazon is removing. The biggest reason reviews are disappearing - the disclaimers if the product was offered at a discount in exchange for a review. How reviews flow into the use of Pay Per Click (PPC) to drive traffic and get more reviews. In the end, do things by the book (Amazon’s book) and you’ll be OK. A possible connection between missing reviews and Facebook review groups. 5 Tips to move forward in regard to reviews. Understand the purpose of initial launch reviews. Have reviewers include proper disclaimers. Don’t rely on review groups. Focus on organic sales (Pay Per Click / Pricing Strategies). Use a good follow-up sequence to encourage organic reviews. Summarizing the issue and wrapping up. Shout out to iTunes reviewers!   LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE   http://www.TheAmazingSeller.com/FB   Scott’s free workshop  - http://www.TheAmazingSeller.com/workshop   Get your own Amazing Seller shirt - all proceeds go to charity - http://www.TheAmazingSeller.com/shirt   http://www.TheAmazingSeller.com/Reviees - Get your discount on Chris Guthrie’s tool “Sales Backer.” (affiliate link). If you want to go directly to Chris’ site - http://www.SalesBacker.com   http://www.FeedbackGenius.com - another sequence delivery tool   Scott’s TAS episode on getting more feedback and reviews - http://www.TheAmazingSeller.com/77   Scott’s live workshops - http://www.TheAmazingSeller.com/workshop

Chris Guthrie is a superstar when it comes to Amazon sales. He’s made tons of cash through the Amazon Affiliate program but has also moved into the realm of his own Private Label products being sold on Amazon and is making a killing. He’s especially adept at building product niches on the back of product feedback and reviews, taking advantage of Amazon’s built in algorithms to move products up in the Amazon search rankings. Listen in to the extra-powerful conversation on The Amazing Seller podcast.   Why are reviews of your product so important?   Reviews are proof to a potential buyer that your product has not only been purchased, but has been enjoyed. Internet sales nowadays is highly dependent on customer reviews - they are the social proof that your product is what it says it is, and that you are a reputable seller to purchase from. If you don’t have a significant number of product reviews on Amazon, your products are going to languish at the bottom of the search results, not even being on the table as an option for the people who are searching for what you sell. How do you get more reviews for your products? In this episode Scott talks with his guest Chris Guthrie about several strategies you can use to solicit feedback from your customers to boost your product listings in Amazon search. What about feedback? Should you ask for it? What if it’s negative?   There are plenty of Amazon FBA sellers who are afraid to ask for feedback because they believe that if they receive negative feedback about their products, they will take a hit in Amazon’s search algorithms. While that’s possible, a better strategy, which Scott addresses in this episode with Chris Guthrie, is to bury the negatives with tons of positives. Asking for feedback is yet another way you can boost your products in Amazon search. Scott and Chris also reveal some simple ways you can get rid of the results of some of your negative feedback, all in this episode of The Amazing Seller.   Plant your flag in a product niche and build your business from there.   That’s some of Chris Guthrie’s advice for new Amazon sellers. He believes that once you do your initial product research and find a product that you can take action with, you should do your best to get a quick “win” with that product and then branch out into other related products from there. You have to be interested in more than just making money, you have to build your business around a certain niche of products so that purchasers of your first product will be open to buying your next product as well because they’re comfortable buying from you because of their good experience with your first product. Find out more about how Chris suggests you go about doing just that, on this episode of The Amazing Seller.   Did you know you can automate a request for feedback from your Amazon customers?   That’s what Scott does, as does his guest, Chris Guthrie. In fact, Chris has created a software solution to do exactly that. Scott’s been using it and loves the simplicity and ease of use - and has seen his reviews rise to over 600, with 4 to 6 new reviews coming in on his products every day. Even if you can’t afford a product like Chris’ you can still solicit feedbacks and reviews from your customers through Amazon’s contact options. Don’t neglect this important step in boosting your products in Amazon’s search algorithms.   OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE AMAZING SELLER   Welcome to this Q&A episode! Scott’s introduction to Chris Guthrie - an Amazon pro How Chris got started - and a quick word of advice for those doing Amazon sales on the side. Why Amazon feedback and Amazon reviews are so important for private label products. How Chris started going after low competition products and found his preferred niche. Why Chris believes Amazon to be a great opportunity for people. An overview of Chris’ software Amasuite - and how he first created it in February 2012. Using reviews to beat the competition and position your products higher. Be careful using friends and family reviews on your products. How to “plant your flag” in a certain area and expand from there with additional products in the same or complementary area. Chris’ thoughts on Tomoson and what he’s heard about its usefulness for generating reviews. Why Chris is more interested in how products are actually selling rather than the review count of the product. Getting your first “win” is very, very important for a number of reasons. How Chris views Amazon’s top 10,000 reviewers. What is their usefulness and is it worth chasing them down for reviews of your products. The most important question to ask about your business decisions as it relates to your Amazon sales. How to drive more traffic to your products through websites, groups, etc. The value of feedback in Amazon’s system and why you should do your best to solicit those for your FBA products. Scott’s method of soliciting feedback that has produced over 600 reviews on his products. How Chris Guthrie follows up on product sales to solicit feedback and reviews for his products. How Scott deals with negative feedback and the impact it has had. Why you should present yourself to your customers as a PERSON, not a company. How Scott used Feedback Genius and Chris Guthrie’s new product Salesbacker to do the actually follow up with customers through automated methods. What makes Salesbacker THE go-to product for automated FBA Sales follow up. Why it’s important to solicit feedback and reviews even if you have to do it without paying for an automated service. Chris’ 6-day trial offer to The Amazing Seller listeners… with no credit card needed. Final advice from Chris for wanna-be Amazon sellers. Scott’s new podcast - http://www.SalesBacker.com/podcast LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE   Amasuite - Chris Guthrie’s software - http://getamasuite.com/   The episode that describes Scott’s email sequence - http://TheAmazingSeller/com/10   Feedback Genius - http://www.feedbackgenius.com/   Chris’ new product, Salesbacker - https://www.salesbacker.com/   Contact Chris at Chris@salesbacker.com   How to get Chris’ 60-day trial offer - http://www.TheAmazingSeller.com/reviews http://www.salesbacker.com/podcast

I met Chris Guthrie at the Fincon Expo and I’m really glad that we had a chance to hang out. Chris is well known for making 6 figures with the Amazon Associates program and he also runs a 6 figure business selling WordPress plugins called BoostWP.com. A lot of people believe that you have to know how to code in order to succeed in selling software. But not only is Chris not a technical guy, but he has found a way to get tens of thousands of websites to use his plugins. If you are interested in creating and selling […] The post 053: How Chris Guthrie Makes 6 Figures Selling WordPress Plugins Online appeared first on MyWifeQuitHerJob.com.

Ever wondered how some people just seem to have a knack for making money online? That’s the case for our guest on today’s episode, Chris Guthrie. Chris is an entrepreneur,… read more →

Chris Guthrie and I have known each other for a long time.  Back in the day Chris was out building Amazon affiliate sites and I was building Adsense affiliate sites.  I'm not sure where we first crossed paths, but we've been in touch now for probably close to 5 years. I had Chris on my podcast over 2 years ago.  However, now his business has evolved so much that I wanted to have him on to discuss his latest business venture. Chris is now actively involved in selling physical products on Amazon through the Fullfullilled by Amazon (FBA) program.  In his first few months with his very first product, Chris has built his monthly revenue to over $12k per month with this business! (Profit is about 50% of that). I know that sounds almost too good; however, Chris has been kind enough to privately show me his Amazon account with earnings and the product that he is selling on Amazon.  It's a legit business.

Remember back in the day when people would build websites and blogs just to earn a few dollars a month in Google Adsense? While make money blogs all over the internet talked about building vast blogging empires of 10 sites each earning $50 a month, Chris Guthrie was doing something different. He was building an […] The post MBP #16: Chris Guthrie shares how he made $127,817.68 as an Amazon Associate (and that’s just the icing on the cake) appeared first on Microblogger.

In Episode 5 of the Niche Site Tools Podcast, I provide a full breakdown of the 55 minute Skype consultation that I had with Chris Guthrie and I talk about the importance of getting started.   Chris is most well known for his success as an Amazon affiliate and his EasyAzon plugin, but he also ... Read more The post Consultation With Chris Guthrie and Importance of Getting Started appeared first on Niche Site Tools.

In Episode 14 of The Side Hustle Show, Chris Guthrie helps me explore the idea of buying income-producing websites as a side hustle investment strategy. It takes a little bit of capital to play in this game, but Chris explains the first site he bought cost just $500 and has paid for itself many times over. Buying websites is a risky endeavor, which is in part why the potential returns are so attractive. In the interview, we talk about how to mitigate your risk, find some winners, and make some money! Subscribe to The Side Hustle Show in iTunes! Subscribe to The Side Hustle Show on Stitcher! Listen to the episode to learn: How websites are typically priced. How Chris finds sites to buy that aren't even "for sale." How to identify sites that might be undervalued or under-monetized. How to do your due diligence to avoid getting screwed. Ways to increase the earning power of a website acquisition. How to transfer the site into your ownership. Chris' #1 tip for Side Hustle Nation. Links mentioned during the show: Flippa.com - the leading marketplace for buying/selling websites 3dtvreviews.org - Chris' first website purchase CopyCatCrafts.com - a site he bought for public case study semrush.com - shows what keywords the site is ranking for moz.org compete.com - can give an estimate of site traffic ahrefs.com - link analysis tool Copyscape - tool to determine if a website's content is original or not Vibrant Media / Kontera - contextual advertising services Escrow.com - for safe funds transfer WordPress Search and Replace Plugin - for swapping out affiliateIDs on a newly acquired site. One thing we didn't talk about during the show but is worth mentioning is an inexpensive software tool Chris built to help filter and sort through the madness on Flippa. It's called SiteFinderPro, and I actually used it a lot last year when I was spending time looking through all the Flippa listings. Ultimately, I didn't find anything  attractive enough to pull the trigger on, but that tool definitely saved me time. You can learn more about Chris at MakeMoneyontheInternet.com and check out his Kindle books here. What do you think about buying sites as a side hustle strategy? Faster (and potentially more affordable) than building one yourself, but without the DIY satisfaction. This is one I would certainly love to get more involved in, so curious to hear what you think. Let me know!

Chris Guthrie of MakeMoneyontheInternet.com discusses some of his early entrepreneurial websites.  He also mentions a site he sold for over six figures and now how he is buying sites and increasing their revenue.

Episode 13 is all about how to cash in through the expansion of purchased niche sites.  We interview Chris Guthrie as he guides us through the process of purchasing and then determining the best way to increase earnings on a variety of niche websites.

#032: In this session of the Smart Passive Income Podcast we welcome back (for the third time!) Chris Guthrie of MakeMoneyOnTheInternet.com. Podcast show notes available here: https://www.smartpassiveincome.com/session32

#022: In this session of the Smart Passive Income Podcast, special guest Chris Guthrie and I discuss several affiliate marketing strategies, tips and techniques. Podcast show notes available here: https://www.smartpassiveincome.com/session22

Chris Guthrie is my guest on this week’s episode.  Chris is an Amazon Affiliates master having racked up over $938,000 in sales $64,000 in commissions last year — just by building niche sites focused on Amazon products.  Chris started in Junior High school selling on ebay, but has since moved on to building niche sites.  […]

#010: In this session (the 10th session!) of the Smart Passive Income Podcast, I interview Chris Guthrie of Make Money On The Internet, who is making a killing as an affiliate for products from Amazon.com. Podcast show notes available here: https://www.smartpassiveincome.com/session10