Getting Discounts on Other People's Mistakes | Mike Jackness | Terran
Honest Ecommerce · with Mike Jackness · August 16, 2021 · 39 min
Summary
This episode reveals how to leverage Amazon for significant growth while strategically de-risking your business. Learn why focusing solely on off-Amazon sales can be detrimental and how to build owned assets that provide long-term flexibility, ensuring your brand thrives regardless of platform changes. The host shares how they scaled to 8-figures on Amazon and sold a brand to reinvest, along with strategies to spot early signs of inflation and make informed expansion decisions.
Key takeaways
Don't blindly chase off-Amazon sales; understand that every sale taken from Amazon can negatively impact your organic ranking and sales velocity within the marketplace due to its flywheel effect.
Build independent, off-Amazon content assets (blogs, websites) that can drive traffic to your Amazon listings now, but also serve as a pivot to your own Shopify store or other marketplaces if Amazon strategies shift or become less favorable.
Recognize and act on early inflation indicators (e.g., rising shipping and raw material costs) visible to e-commerce owners to inform purchasing and expansion decisions, potentially leveraging favorable loan terms.
Avoid commingling all your brands and assets within a single company structure; this creates significant challenges during acquisition or divestiture, as it did for Mike Jackness when selling one of his brands.
Prioritize optimizing existing, proven revenue streams over chasing "shiny new objects" or unproven ventures, as sustained growth often comes from refining what already works rather than constant reinvention.
Themes
amazon & marketplacesfounder & leadershipfinance & fundraisingorganic & seo
Mike Jackness is the CEO of four Amazon brands that together, make up Terran LLC. He's also the Co-Founder of Ecomcrew - a blog and podcast focused on helping sellers with their ecommerce journey, and the #1 resource for anything ecommerce and Amazon related. On this podcast, we talk about buying brands vs starting brands, the pros and cons of having a stand-alone content site, balancing the Shopify and Amazon side of Terran, and so much more! To learn more, visit: http://honestecommerce.co Resources: Get advice to grow your ecom business ecomcrew.com Listen to Chase’s guest episode ecomcrew.com/e391-chase-clymer Connect with Mike linkedin.com/in/mikejackness Visit Terran’s brands terran.com/sites Check out the Lean Startup theleanstartup.com/principles Scale your business with electriceye.io Level up your customer support gorgias.grsm.io/honest Get a free trial at klaviyo.com/honest Get a 14-day free trial at getmesa.com/honest Get 1 month of automated Shopify backups for free at rewind.io/honest
What does this episode say about amazon & marketplaces?
Don't blindly chase off-Amazon sales; understand that every sale taken from Amazon can negatively impact your organic ranking and sales velocity within the marketplace due to its flywheel effect.
What does this episode say about founder & leadership?
Build independent, off-Amazon content assets (blogs, websites) that can drive traffic to your Amazon listings now, but also serve as a pivot to your own Shopify store or other marketplaces if Amazon strategies shift or become less favorable.
What does this episode say about finance & fundraising?
Recognize and act on early inflation indicators (e.g., rising shipping and raw material costs) visible to e-commerce owners to inform purchasing and expansion decisions, potentially leveraging favorable loan terms.
What does this episode say about organic & seo?
Avoid commingling all your brands and assets within a single company structure; this creates significant challenges during acquisition or divestiture, as it did for Mike Jackness when selling one of his brands.
What does this episode say about amazon & marketplaces?
Prioritize optimizing existing, proven revenue streams over chasing "shiny new objects" or unproven ventures, as sustained growth often comes from refining what already works rather than constant reinvention.
