How Amazon Sellers can Work with Influencers to Increase Their Sales with Andreea Matei

0:01Boom! Shake the room, Fire Nation. JLD here and welcome to Entrepreneurs on Fire. Brought to you by the HubSpot. podcast network, the audio destination for business professionals with great shows like The Ops Authority. Today, we'll be breaking down how Amazon sellers can work with influencers to increase their sales. To drop these value bombs, I have brought Andrea Matei into EO Fire Studios. Andrea has been an entrepreneur for more than 20 years. She works with e-commerce brands and helps them get media attention and grow their businesses on and off Amazon. In today's foundation, we'll talk about side hustling, turning into something special, working with influencers.

0:37We'll talk about TikTok and earned media and oh so much more. And a big thank you for sponsoring today's episode goes to Andrea and our sponsors. DTC Pod, hosted by Ramon Berrios and Blaine Bolas, is brought to you by the HubSpot Podcast Network, the audio destination for business professionals. DTC Pod is a podcast about all things direct to consumer. Ramon and Blaine cover everything from starting, growing, and optimizing e-commerce stores and DTC brands. If you're interested in the stories behind your favorite consumer brands, this podcast is for you. One recent episode on how the best brands are built is a must listen.

1:12Listen to DTC Pod wherever you get your podcasts. Over 40 ,000 businesses have future-proofed their business with NetSuite by Oracle, the number one cloud ERP, bringing accounting, financial management, inventory, and HR into one platform. Download the CFO's Guide to AI and Machine Learning for free at netsuite.com slash fire. Andrea say what's up to fire nation and share something that you believe about becoming successful that most people disagree with what's up fire nation Andrea here one of the things that I I would have to say about that is that a lot of people say whatever you do don't quit and I totally disagree with that advice honestly I feel like there are times where you're either not in love with what you were wanting to do and you're not interested in it anymore, or it's not working out the way you thought it would.

2:08And I think after a while, there are some cases where it's okay to totally quit and start over something new. Fire Nation, I could not possibly agree more. The best decisions of my life involved quitting. I quit corporate finance. I quit commercial real estate. I quit law school. So many people have this sunk cost fallacy, believing, hey, I started something, I invested in something, maybe it's financial, maybe it's time, maybe it's reputation, doesn't matter. You feel like you sunk cost into something, and you have to keep going forward every day doing that thing. It's like you've given yourself a life sentence because of one decision.

2:49Every day, Fire Nation, is a new day with a new set of opportunities and decisions for you. So quit, quit, quit if your heart, if your gut, if your instincts are telling you to do that. And I love starting an interview off with a bang because we're talking about how Amazon sellers can work with influencers to increase their sales. So one thing that I love, Andrea, is when side hustles turn into something special. It doesn't always happen, but I love side hustles because there's an opportunity that it can happen. And you actually turned your Amazon product review side hustle into a service that you now offer Amazon sellers.

3:30Tell us about this evolution. Yes, I absolutely did. So a few years ago, I saw this video on YouTube about the best new side hustle and I decided to check it out. And that side hustle turned out to be the Amazon influencer program. So basically the way that works is if you've ever shopped on Amazon, which I'm sure everybody listening has, you are going to see on a lot of the products, there are product reviews from Amazon influencers. And these reviews are not the regular customer reviews. They are video reviews that are placed in what Amazon calls the upper carousel or the lower carousel on Amazon.

4:12So sometimes these are next to the seller videos if the seller has their own brand video. So So once I learned about that, I thought, well, maybe this is something that I can do. And it was super simple side hustle. All you have to do is take products around your house and create 60 to 90 second video reviews of those products applied to the Amazon Influencer Program, upload your videos and your videos are going to show up on Amazon. And anytime somebody buys a product after they've watched your video, then you are going to get a commission. So I thought, you know, I have nothing to lose. Let me try it.

4:50And the best part was that you don't even have to show your face on the video. You can just showcase the product because the video review is all about the product. So I decided to try this out and I did a bunch of videos and I had so much fun with it that I decided maybe I'll just go around my entire house and review every single product. And I did that for the next few months. I ended up going to my sister's house and reviewing everything in her house. And I started making quite a bit of money. But the cool thing is that a lot of sellers started reaching out to me and saying, hey, we saw your video review of, I don't know, this vacuum on Amazon.

5:30We also have a vacuum. Can we send you one so you can review it and post the video on Amazon? So once I started getting all of these sellers reaching out to me to review their product, I knew that I had something because in my regular job, my company launch, grow joy, I work with sellers. A lot of them are Amazon sellers and I was offering them a different service where I was helping them get PR and media attention. And now I thought, well, these Amazon sellers are definitely seeing value in having influencer video reviews on their product pages. So maybe that's something that I can also offer in addition to my PR services.

6:10So that's kind of how it got started. I love stories like this, Fire Nation, where you just start small. You do one thing, but the key thing is you do that thing. You take action. And guess what? Sometimes it doesn't feel right. It doesn't taste right. It doesn't smell right. And you stop doing that thing. Nobody has a gun to your head saying, keep doing this thing. This is your decision to try something new. And every now and then, maybe one time out of 10, maybe one time out of 100, you're going to find something that just feels right. Like Andrea said, she just was having fun. I mean, think about it.

6:41When's the last time you had fun doing something that was also building something special, like a business? Now, I want to talk specifically, Andrea, about working with influencers. So if Fire Nation's listening and they're like, man, this sounds kind of interesting. I'm like most people and I'm looking around my room right now and I'm like, okay, I can already see like 10 things that are from Amazon directly. I mean, the lamps, my Keurig, that sign right there. I mean, I'm looking all around. I'm just seeing all these things. I'm like, wow. So Fire Nation is doing the same thing. What do Amazon sellers specifically need to know before they work with influencers like you, with influencers like potentially us, Fire Nation?

7:22Yeah. So the first thing they need to know is that they need to have uploaded their own brand video on Amazon. And they can do this from the back end of their seller's account. And what happens when they upload their own brand video, then Amazon automatically unlocks the video carousel, which is what they call it. And that is going to allow influencer videos to also be uploaded to that product listing. So the most important thing, if you want influencer videos to show up on your own product pages, you have to upload your own brand video first. So that is the first thing that I always recommend.

8:01And I've also noticed a lot of influencers, including myself, they will not even do product reviews of products that do not have a brand video uploaded because that just means that the video carousel up on top is not open. There is a bottom video carousel sort of halfway down the page on Amazon, but a lot of people don't really make it down that far on the page when they're buying a product. So a lot of times those videos don't really get many views. So it's really important for Amazon sellers to upload their own brand video at first in order to unlock that carousel. And once that carousel is unlocked, then you have all of the influencers that are interested in doing product reviews.

8:42they are going to have an incentive to actually review your products. All right, we're going to flip this back to the actual influencer ourselves, Fire Nation, potentially us doing something along these lines when we get back from thinking our sponsors. Marketers have never been spread so thin. Trust me, I feel it too. Between creating content, launching campaigns, generating leads, nurturing your prospects, and more, you barely have a second to breathe, let alone do your best marketing. But I've got some great news. There's a better way to do things and it's with the help of HubSpot and Breeze.

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12:10What is the best way that these individuals could find influencers to review their Amazon products? Great question. So usually what a lot of sellers do is that they look at their competitors' products and look at the videos on those pages, and then they reach out to the Amazon influencers that have already reviewed products in their niche. So that's what a lot of brands and sellers start out doing. Obviously, there's also platforms that they can use where they can go ahead and connect with influencers as well, or they can just simply go on Instagram or TikTok and even YouTube and search for hashtag Amazon influencer or something like Amazon made me buy it or something like that.

12:58And then they can find influencers that way as well. Now let's flip it from the potential influencers perspective. Like if we are a fire nation, we're looking around our room, our office, our bedroom, whatever it might be, and we're saying, hey, maybe we want to start this just like Andrea started this back in the day. What is a way that we can start? Let's go on a couple of specific details beyond the obvious. Yes. So the first thing you're going to have to do is to apply for the Amazon Influencer Program. And a lot of you might already be Amazon influencers and don't even know it. So I would check, just Google Amazon Influencer Program and see if you're already an influencer.

13:37And if not, just go ahead and apply. You do need to apply with Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, or Facebook. And one of the things that a lot of people are always concerned about is what if I don't have a lot of followers? And that's totally fine. That is not the most important thing that Amazon looks for. Amazon looks for engagement on your account as well as the age of your account. So before you apply for the Influencer Program, if you want to spend a couple of days, maybe even up to a week and sort of post on your social media account that you're going to apply with and go ahead and interact with your audience and engage a little bit that is going to go a long way even more important than the number of followers you have so once you apply for the amazon influencer program then amazon is going to let you know instantly if you've been approved or not and if you haven't been approved you can go ahead and just try a different social media account to apply with.

14:34But if you've been approved, then there's step two of the process. And step two is to submit three videos. So you're going to create three 60 second video reviews of products around your house. So I would recommend something that you are familiar with, something that you use on a regular basis, like your Keurig or whatever coffee maker you're using, or even in your office chair or your desk or something like that and create a 60 second video review of it. Tell people why you think they should buy it. What do you love about the product and anything else they should know. And then you're going to upload those three initial videos to Amazon.

15:13And then there is a waiting period. Sometimes the waiting period is a couple of days. Sometimes it's a couple of weeks, depending on how many other applications Amazon has. But once you upload those three videos, you're basically not going to do anything else until Amazon gives you the go ahead and they send you an email or when you log into your account, there's confetti everywhere that says you've been approved for the Amazon Influencer Program and on-site video placement is what they call it. So once you've been approved for on-site, you literally can go around your entire house, review everything, upload it to Amazon, and you are going to start earning commissions within a few days.

15:53And that is the most exciting thing of all because at first, I believe my first commission that I earned was$1.62. And while that may not sound like a lot of money, I immediately saw the potential of the program. And I thought, wow, if I can just upload these three videos, earn$1.62, imagine what would happen if I upload 1000 videos, 100 videos even. And now I'm about a year and a half into it, a little over a year and a half. I've uploaded over 2 ,200 videos. And last month, I made$10 ,000 with the program. So it is such an exciting place to be because now sellers are sending me products. I'm working with sellers from Launch Grow Joy as well.

16:38So it's just been such a cool side hustle that really has turned into a substantial income and literally anybody can do it. So if anybody's listening, thinking, yeah, I see my coffee maker and I see my treadmill and my clock and all of that, you literally can also become an Amazon influencer, upload these videos and make side income or even more. Fire Nation, I don't think many people listening, myself included, would sniff at 10K a day as a bad thing. That is exciting. That is real money. That is really allowing you to say, wow, how can I even build on top of this now that I've gotten to this level?

17:17Because man, I'll tell you, it's a lot harder to go from zero to$1 ,000 a month than it is going from$1 ,000 to$10 ,000 a month because it's that initial traction, that initial momentum. Once you get to$1 ,000 a month, it's just doing more of what's already working because it's working. You got to find what works first. Now we hear TikTok all day long, Andrea. It's just like TikTok. I mean, a lot of people consume TikTok all day long. Let's break it down. Should Amazon sellers specifically also be launching TikTok shops? Yes, absolutely. And there is such a momentum around TikTok shop right now.

17:59And I always recommend all of the Amazon sellers that I work with, I also recommend that they open up a TikTok shop. It's super easy. There's no initial fees or anything like that. There's no monthly fees. And all you have to do is upload your products to TikTok. And again, just like with Amazon, if you can find influencers to promote your products on TikTok, eventually you are going to gain momentum there as well. And I know brands that are selling like hundreds and even thousands of units of their products per day on TikTok shop. So I think if you're an Amazon seller and have been nervous about TikTok shop or not sure if it's the right fit, I definitely recommend trying it because there is no upfront investment other than just listing your product.

18:46So definitely recommend looking into TikTok shop as well and also working with affiliates and a lot of affiliates that do Amazon Influencer Program, also do TikTok Shop affiliate, and then they'll take a product that they reviewed on Amazon and they'll go ahead and create the same, or a different video, but for the same product for TikTok Shop. So you can sort of use one influencer to get product reviews on both platforms. Now I get pitched all day, every day from PR companies, you know, public relations companies about giving their clients earned media opportunities, specifically on Entrepreneurs on Fire.

19:26So I want to break it down. Is earned media still relevant or should Amazon sellers instead be focusing on working with influencers? I think both are relevant, honestly. And I think they're relevant for different reasons. And a lot of times I think there's a shift right now where earned media is using influencers and they're using affiliate programs and affiliate links. And a lot of them are sort of blending together in a lot of ways, especially on websites and blogs and media sites. But yes, I absolutely think brands should still do both and see what works the best because there are brands that I know get featured in Forbes or Oprah Magazine and they get millions of dollars in sales from those features.

20:17So I think it would be a shame to not continue to do all of it and try out and see what works. And if you find that maybe TikTok is where a lot of your customers are hanging out and that's your best platform, then after experimenting with Amazon and TikTok and earned media and all of that, maybe you can spend a little more time on TikTok if that is what's doing best for you. But I absolutely think all brands should be doing all of those at the same time. We talked about a lot of really cool things today, both from the Amazon seller's perspective and also from the influence perspective. I mean, there's opportunities on both sides of these equations.

20:54What is the one thing, Andrea, that you really want to make sure Fire Nation gets from our conversation today? I think the most important thing is, is that you have to give it time. So I know when somebody looks at TikTok, it literally seems like a product can go viral overnight and it can but with a lot of these things you need to give it time you need to brand you need to build that brand awareness and that's not often going to happen with your first video whether you're an influencer or your brand it might take five videos ten videos maybe even 50 videos before you see really good results and yes there are chances that you're going to go viral overnight but that's not usually the norm.

21:38So I think a lot of both influencers and sellers, they get discouraged if they don't go viral immediately. But you have to give it time. You have to be consistent and focus on that on a daily basis in order to see results and just give it time. I think that's the most important thing influencers and brands need to keep in mind. Okay, if Fire Nation is loving what they're hearing and they want to connect with you, learn more from you, give us a call to action. Anybody who wants to learn more either about the Amazon Influencer Program or about working with influencers as a brand, you can go to my website, launchgrowjoy.com, and I will go ahead and set up a special page.

22:21It's going to be launchgrowjoy.com forward slash Amazon. And I'm going to put all of the information there, whether you're a seller or an influencer who wants to get started with this really awesome way to market products and earn money. Fire Nation, you're the average of the five people you spend the most time with. You've been hanging out with AM and JLD today, so keep up the heat. And for links to everything we talked about, visit eofire.com. Type Andrea, that's A-N-D-R-E-E-A in the search bar. The show notes page will pop right up. Andrea, thank you for sharing your truth, your knowledge, your value with Fire Nation.

22:57For that, we salute you and we'll catch you on the flip side. Thanks, John. Hey, Fire Nation, a huge thank you to our sponsors and Andrea for sponsoring today's episode. And Fire Nation's successful entrepreneurs accomplish big goals. That's why I created the Freedom Journal to guide you in accomplishing your number one goal in 100 days. We're talking step by step. Visit thefreedomjournal.com and I'll catch you there or on the flip side. DTC Pod, hosted by Ramon Berrios and Blaine Bolas, is brought to you by the HubSpot Podcast Network, the audio destination for business professionals. DTC Pod is a podcast about all things direct to consumer.

23:36Ramon and Blaine cover everything from starting, growing, and optimizing e-commerce stores in DTC brands. If you're interested in the stories behind your favorite consumer brands, this podcast is for you. One recent episode on how the best brands are built is a must listen. Listen to DTC Pod wherever you get your podcasts. Over 40 ,000 businesses have future-proofed their business with NetSuite by Oracle, the number one cloud ERP, bringing accounting, financial management, inventory, and HR into one platform. Download the CFO's guide to AI and machine learning for free at netsuite.com slash fire.