If you’re a service based business owner like me, you may be constantly wishing you had more time so that you could make more money. I’m not talking millions, I’m simply just talking about having an extra cushion of income so that during hard times, like the one we are in now, aren’t as harsh on businesses and our personal bank accounts.
Megan Stanczak is an Amazon Strategy and Listing Optimization expert, as well as the owner of Stanczak Retail Consulting. She is dedicated to helping product-based brands achieve steady and sustainable growth as Amazon sellers.
Photo Credit: Traci Elaine Photography
Have you thought about ways to semi-automate some of your income? What about adding a physical product to increase your income while taking yourself out of the equation? As a small service based business owner I am always thinking of ways I can grow my business, but in ways that doesn’t stretch my working hours, or my sanity, to the brink.
How can I expand my service based business in a way that doesn’t require more of my service? After all, I only have so much time in a day and I can only be in so many places at one time, so I need sources of income that don’t require 100% of my attention.
After talking with other service based solopreneurs and small business owners overtime, I know I am not alone in this thinking. Having enough time in a service based business is a common and ever-present issue, especially for small business owners and solopreneurs.
I have a background selling physical products on the Amazon 3P marketplace. Now, I own a service based business that helps small businesses learn to sell on the marketplace in a sustainable way. As a service-based business owner I am constantly looking for opportunities that I could use to potentially grow my business on Amazon, an area I know inside and out.
When most people think of Amazon, they think of a huge online store where product-based businesses can sell their products and reach new customers. Very few service based businesses even consider the marketplace as an option to grow their income as many don’t have a physical product to sell.
In this article, I am going to discuss ways service based businesses, can use Amazon to make money without more time. I’ll also touch on what you’ll need to know before getting started selling on Amazon.
1) Sell a Physical Product
The most common way to make money on Amazon is by selling products on the Amazon Marketplace through Seller Central. Then, there are two main types of products that a business may want to pursue selling on Amazon. The first, is your brand’s own Private-Label product, which is a product you’ve developed and branded. The second is through a Wholesale agreement, where you resell another brand’s product. Private-Label products typically take more effort on your part to source, develop and bring to market, and usually have gross profit margins higher than 50%. Wholesale products are much easier to bring to market, but usually have lower profit margins than Private-Label products.
There are also several other types of products that can be sold on Amazon, such as White-Label (less involved than Private-Label with some of the same benefits) and via Retail Arbitrage (which includes reselling other brand’s products, usually purchased on sale from a retailer, and does not include a wholesale agreement with a brand).
Regardless of where you get your product, you’ll want to do a marketplace analysis when deciding what kind of product you want to sell.
The possibilities of the kind of product you could offer can seem endless, so you’ll first want to understand customer demand and how much competition exists on the Amazon marketplace for products your interested in selling to help you decide what to sell. If there is low demand and high competition for the kind of product you want to sell, you may not have an opportunity to be profitable on Amazon. *JungleScout’s Chrome Extension or *Helium 10’s X-Ray Tool are great options for researching product and category demand on Amazon.
I do want to be clear that selling physical products on Amazon is not exactly a way to fully automate income. Can it be an option to free up some of your time by becoming less dependent on project-based and 1-on-1 client work that demands all of your time? Yes. Does bringing a product to market while managing and building the business take time, money, and resources? Yes. Keep on reading for less time-intensive ways to semi-automate your income.
2) Sell eBooks or Physical Books
If you are an expert in your field, like a Business or Lifestyle Coach, a certified CPA, or a Marketing expert, consider creating and selling an eBook on Amazon. This is a great way to expand your audience as well as your credibility as an expert in your field.
Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing allows authors to self-publish eBooks and paperbacks, bringing your insight to market quickly. And they now offer specialized publishing options if you are interested in printing your writings.
This option allows you to create, market, and launch a digital product and let it sell, requiring less time, money, and resources than managing a physical product.
3) Become an Amazon Associate
Are you reading this asking yourself “But how do I make money on Amazon without selling anything??” Amazon Associates might be the right route for you. Amazon Associates is Amazon’s Affiliate marketing program, where you have the opportunity to earn money for recommending products that are sold on Amazon. This is a great option for business owners who have a large and engaged social media following, who run an active blog, or who have a client base who buys products from 3rd party vendors as a result of their dealings with your business.
Example: a Health & Wellness coach who runs a blog, has a social media marketing strategy, and has clients they consult with directly may be suggesting healthy eating cooking books, or recommending nutritional supplements to take.
Becoming an Amazon Associate would allow the coach to provide affiliate links of products on Amazon.com to their audience or clients. When the client purchases a product from the affiliate link provided, a percentage of the sale will be paid to the coach by Amazon.
For these types of service-based businesses, this is the least time consuming way to semi-automate income.
What to Know Before Selling on Amazon
While Amazon can be used as a tool to grow your business, it’s important to remember that Amazon should be considered an additional sales channel NOT your main source of income. Using Amazon to make money is not free, and every Amazon program will charge to use their services. While the sales volume you’ll experience on Amazon will most likely outweigh a larger margin you’ll experience on your own website, you’ll still want to be aware of how much any Amazon program will cost you to make sure you’re profitable.
Amazon also has control over how you sell on the marketplace. They have a long and confusing list of policies, and they track everything! If you don’t obey their policies, even if you are well intended, they usually will find out and they can decide to pause or remove your product listing, eBook, and seller or associate account at any time.
Because of this, it’s important to diversify your selling and marketing channels outside of Amazon. So for example, if you decide to create an eBook consider printing it or turning it into a PDF and selling it on your website as well as on Amazon. Also consider keeping your core source of income off of Amazon, where you can maintain the control over your offerings.
If you are interested in selling physical products on Amazon and have been asking yourself “Is Selling on Amazon Right for My Business?”, I am here to support you. Download my Free Guide to Selling on Amazon for beginners. Follow me on Instagram @stanczak.retail.consulting for more advice, tools, and resources regarding selling on the marketplace.
*Denotes an affiliate link. While I may make a small commission when you click through and purchase or subscribe using these links, I only recommend products and services that I trust.
