This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
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Hey, hey, what's up? Side hustle school listeners, friends, community, worldwide friends, community. Hope you are doing well in whatever part of the world you are in. I hope you are taking some risks perhaps, maybe some small risks, maybe just some small steps to get closer to something that is important to you. Specifically, financial security, which is a big part of what I talk about here every day on the program.
Finding a way to make money apart from your day job. It's not necessarily about quitting your job. It's not necessarily about being a full-time entrepreneur, although a lot of our listeners do go on to do that. But mostly it's about increasing your options, increasing your choices that you can do, as I said, more of what is important to you. All right, now for much of 2020, we've been trying to focus on this broad topic of how, okay, you've made something.
You've made something, now how can you sell it? You've made it, how can you sell it? In today's story, a listener from Singapore sells biodegradable party cups with cheerful designs. She and her sister have put this project together. They are now selling them on Amazon, but of course they are wondering the essential question, how to get noticed by more people?
How can they get the word out? How can they increase their sales, increase their visibility and attraction on Amazon, the world's largest marketplace? That's what we're gonna talk about in this episode after this message from our sponsor. [Music]
Hi, this is Carrie from Singapore. I've been listening to the show since reading your first book, "The $100 Startup." I'm always inspired by the stories in the show and find your vice practical and positive.
So thanks for that. My side hustles a brand called Happy Cups, which are biodegradable party cups that have colorful, cheerful designs. One of the Mingos and the other of avocados. My sister and I designed and launched the product on Amazon. Since it is a new product, we do not have many reuse yet and sales are slow.
We've let our family and friends know and have set up an Amazon campaign to advertise the products. We also started an Instagram account at Happy Cups party, but are new to digital marketing. So my question is how do we advertise a new product on Amazon? Thanks and I hope to hear your suggestions soon. - Carrie, congratulations to you and your sister on moving forward with this project.
It sounds really cool. I also like the design a lot. If our listeners want to see it, go look at the Instagram account that is @happycupsparty once again. So my thought here is just starting with that account and then looking at the Amazon listing also. So this is very new.
Like you've just started it, at least at the time I'm recording this answer. So it's very new, just a few posts and followers on that account, which is totally okay. This is a good time to think about this. And my thought is, you know, having just mentioned that Instagram account, I don't think I would focus my efforts on social media at all. Like you're selling biodegradable party cups, which are something people purchase a lot.
I love the fact that they have the colorful, cheerful designs, but I don't think social media is necessarily the way to succeed here. I think just a lot of people are not going to follow an account that just features, you know, photos of party cups, even though they are really nice looking photos. I think the way to succeed is on keyword research, listing optimization. There's an enormous community of people who are selling on Amazon, trying to understand fulfillment by Amazon and third party selling because, you know, the stakes are high. You know, as I'm sure you're aware, like if you can be one of those first listings for pretty much any product that sells on a, you know, even a decent amount of volume, that can be a lot of sales.
Okay, so I would focus all on that. So when I say focus, what I mean is go and do a lot of reading. Okay, so there's a few different resources. You're probably familiar with Seller Central on Amazon. If you're not, check that out.
Very detailed forum, lots of posts, lots of resources there. Also on Reddit, Reddit fulfillment by Amazon, a subreddit that has a lot of people asking lots of questions, providing case studies, you know, people helping each other out 'cause they're all in different industries. So there's not really competition. There's also a big Facebook group, Amazon sellers group. So just look for that Amazon.sellers.group, or I'm sure if you search for it on Facebook, you'll find it.
It actually has 60,000 members. So I would spend a lot of time in these forums and threads, you know, really understanding, as I said, keyword research and listing optimization. This can be kind of analytical, logical work. So between your sister and you, you know, I'd ask which one is better at that? Which one of you prefers that kind of work?
Ideally, one of you could focus more on product and the other one would be learning about this because honestly, if you can improve your Amazon search results, that's gonna be far more effective than having a lot of social followers. People are searching every day for party cups. And your objective, your goal, is to be one of those first results that shows up. So I wish you every success with that. Good luck with happy cups party.
And listeners, if you have a question, just come to sidehustleschool.com/questions. Pretty simple. Go there, leave your question. We'll feature it to lots of people. You might even get a helpful answer.
You know, anything is possible. Well, thank you so much for listening today. Be sure you're subscribed. You can do that wherever you get your podcasts. My name is Chris Guillebeau.
This is "Side Hustle School." [Music]
From the "Onward Project."
