Shownotes
I love the Wholesale Formula guys: Dan and Eric (and Dylan). They really have a great program (I am not an affiliate). I should know I have had many of their students on my show. We spend a lot of time talking about relationships and what it takes to really be a partner. Great actionable information.
Mentioned:
Sponsors:
Gaye’s Million Dollar Arbitrage List
Transcript: (note- this is a new tool I am trying out so it is not perfect- it does seem to be getting better)
Stephen: [00:00] Want to jump in here and just bring back up episode 250 Toys for Tots campaign put together by Sellar labs. It is such a great opportunity. I was with the seller on Friday. Their team is working on it. I’m very very excited. This is a chance for you to use the skills that you personally have developed. You’ve got sourcing muscles not many other people have it. And this is a chance where we can take and use our skills to help those less fortunate. All the information is on episode 250 such a great cause. Get back give back give back this time of year thanks hope your Q4 is going good. It’s a great time to be selling and sell a lot. Watch you repressors. I just got whacked on one last$15 a unit. I didn’t lose I lost in profit because I should have blocked one wasn’t paying attention so please do me tell you by a couple sponsors you know scope from solar labs.
Stephen: [00:59] If you’re not using it to even just to take your wholesale accounts of course you got to use it for private label. Right. You need to understand the keyword you want to understand a key word go look at your competitors get their keywords and then use them. That’s smart business right because they already have proven that proof of concept but take the same approach to your wholesale accounts make sure that those key words are in there. If not upload those changes many times you can’t. But many times you can’t take advantage sculped from seller labs. Go to Silver labs dot com slash scope use the code word momentum save a few bucks get a few key words get your listings found.
Stephen: [01:35] Got to find that key and scope will be the product that will help you there. Solutions for e-commerce Charron logger. You know again you hear me talk about her because she is my account manager. She’s been doing a great job. Again I had some stranded listings and I notice them down there on the bottom right hand corner. They’re gone. I look back and they’re gone and I see stuff submitted. I see stuff return. It’s such a great process because I don’t have to pay attention. I can pay attention to the other parts of our business solutions for e-commerce slash momentum. I’ll save you 50 bucks. Lowest price she offers. And you still get the amatory Health Report. Take a look at it set up for 2018. Now tell Karen I sent you.
Stephen: [02:17] When you think about Q4 lists and hope you don’t use them just you for hope you use them all year long again you want to learn how to fish right. And so the best thing to do when you’re buying the list is look at what they’re doing and how they’re doing it and then figure that out on your own. That’s the approach that gay lesbian uses and a million dollar arbitrage list. It is closed for the rest of this year. However I have asked them and they have said they would do it if there’s an opening. They will pull from the waitlist. OK so I have the link on my site and this episode that will have a link that will take you right onto the waitlist. So get on the waitlist if there’s something that your interest maybe she’s going to give you a 7 day free trial so there’s nothing to lose.
Stephen: [03:00] But then once you get in there take advantage learn how to fish right sharpen your to sharpen your skills I guess is the right phrase I should use. OK so again I have that link out on this episode. So jump out there and get on that list. You know go daddy and grasshopper are both national sponsors of the show. I’m very fortunate. I have a third one coming on in February very excited about that. Go Daddy. I use them. This was somebody who had a great idea for and for a domain and I’m like. Use my link. Save 30 percent 30 percent yes they pay me. We all know that. However 30 presents real I use it myself because I want to save the 30 percent.
Stephen: [03:41] So let’s try. Go Daddy dot com slash momentum right try Go Daddy dot com slash momentum and you’re going to save 30 percent grasshopper’s the same deal. Try grasshopper com slash momentum and you’re going to save 50 bucks. I saw somebody else just signed up for it. The service makes you a pro.. All of a sudden your business has a phone number has a vanity phone number you can kind of create your own one if it’s available but you don’t need a second phone. And I think that’s the big thing it’s not Google Voice which is choppy Sometimes it works sometimes it doesn’t. This is professional stuff. Press one for customer service press two for my Amazon account manager which we go to Cairnes team. I mean this is a great opportunity. So it’s Try grasshopper dot com slash momentum. Say fifty bucks.
Cool voice guy: [04:28] Welcome to the e-commerce momentum good guys will focus on the people the products and the process of Commerce selling today.
Stephen: [04:37] Your host Stephen Peters and welcome back to the e-commerce momentum podcast. This is episode 255 Dan matters. Now this is the second time I’ve had Dan. Dan is with the wholesale formula. He was originally in episode number 19 over two plus years ago. And I mean it seemed in a few different times this past year around the country at different events and stuff but I’m blown away with what they’ve accomplished in two years. The path they’re on the path they’ve chose the intentional path that they have taken is just leading them further and further and further into success. You know I know they’re strong marketers. They don’t apologize for that. But guess what. They believe in what they do. And quite frankly said it was a lot of the people that I’ve had on my podcast have been students of the whole Sipple me over a thousand people have but a bunch of them have and they just speak highly of it because it’s a proven successful formula and it works.
Stephen: [05:38] And these guys are great guys. They play a little sly but they’re smart smart smart as a box.
Stephen: [05:45] Let’s get into the podcast where it will come back to the e-commerce momentum podcast we’re excited for today’s guests to have them back. That’s I was getting a little stuck there because it’s it’s been so long. I mean episode number 19. I think about that and now you’re episode two 50 something then matters. Welcome
Dan: [06:03] to the a Stephen I’m happy to be here man.
Stephen: [06:06] I am blown away. It’s been that long since we’ve talked on air and we’ve seen each other a couple of times throughout the last couple of years. But you are just so busy. I think getting time with you to record has been a challenge.
Dan: [06:21] Oh for sure. We’re always working on something and it’s that’s one of the things that really excites me about this kind of business is there’s always something to do.
Dan: [06:30] So it’s like we’re you know there we’re always times and things about war times and things about what we’re doing and trying to improve and get better. So it’s always a challenge.
Stephen: [06:40] So there really is. And you guys though I think have done an amazing job. So you know the episode 19 will go into Dan’s background. He’s with the wholesale formula right so he knows those guys these are the marketing machine or Dylan as it’s known that comes out and just pounds everybody however however you’ve had over a thousand customers correct.
Stephen: [07:05] That over a thousand and a thousand students so that says something for the value that they’ve gotten you know so while while you do market and market heavily you’ve really made a difference for a thousand people and I’ve had lots of people on my show that have said that the whole formulas one of the reasons that they’re having so much success and I mean that for sure I mean with a lot of pride in the success for students I mean it’s probably the most important thing to be on. Well you know you still sell correct. You guys still have a working warehouse were you still physically sell products correct. Yes. Then you have a team and at the time I don’t remember you were you were doing several million dollars together you and Eric and you had a team of I think three or four maybe five people. Has it grown since then or is it kind of leveled.
Dan: [07:56] We have a team of six right now. OK.
Dan: [08:02] So six six full time for the for the Amazon.
Stephen: [08:06] So. So on that business you know having been in it for several years has it been kind of level have you been growing. I mean because you have this other big competing business the whole set formula which is a huge piece of time where if you guys stayed the woman Here’s our focus is always to grow and scale.
Dan: [08:26] OK good. You know we always want to be growing our business. So that’s definitely true in our Amazon business. We really focus over the past years on not only growing but but more importantly streamlining. Because here’s the thing it’s like I don’t want to be working when I’m 60 and 70 years old. I would love to have a business that just operates for us. And so that’s what we’ve really been focused on trying to build. Can
Stephen: [08:50] you give an example. Can you give an example of what you’ve been able to streamline. I
Dan: [08:55] mean I can yes for sure but it’ll come with a lot of bit longer of a story.
Stephen: [09:01] And that’s okay because I mean here’s the thing Dan.. Right. Lots of people right now it’s Q4. They’re going crazy. This is the time to make your money everybody knows that. But now they’re thinking about 2018. And I think you guys have said that your goal is to grow. Or I think what you were trying to say streamline mean grow profits and reduce hours and reduce touch points and stuff like that. I think that art form that business because the revenues are receipts it’s not easy to get it’s there but unprofitable revenue can be in there too. And you guys have done a very good job. I think that that’s very helpful for people you agree. Absolutely
Dan: [09:37] . I mean I think it’s the right way to go. And here’s what so here’s what we’ve done is we’ve been focused on reducing the amount of cuts coins that me and Eric and Dylan have with that business. But also creating a situation that allows us to easily monitor the hill and offer insight and things like that into the business. So right now we’ve got it down to where we actually don’t even work in a warehouse anymore ever downtown office. Oh that’s cool I mean but we’ve got it down to where right now we work with the Amazon business about an hour a week.
Dan: [10:13] And what would that involve.
Speaker 10: [10:15] It’s a meeting with generally a meeting with our product team and warehouse team and there are two separate teams a product team and I love that.
Stephen: [10:24] I love those phrases. Product team that’s a distinction and a warehouse team.
Dan: [10:29] Yes. OK and now you know our product team is the team that of purchasing and selling all of our products. So we have a definitive sets of take that there was allow us to really monitor the health and change directions really quick. That’s one of the things we’ve been highly focused on is getting the best possible take as employees to monitor our business. And then the same is true for art for our fulfillment. And our warehouse things to make sure that you know all this all the cool stuff that we’re buying at this point getting the balance out.
Stephen: [11:00] So you’ve been watching these these key performance indicators over time. So you can look at the Delta and it should be you know going in the right direction correct costs down revenues up. Exactly. Okay. And so how long. Let me ask you this question back when you started do you think it’s possible and I guess do you teach this for for a new business getting started in the wholesale model to do this right from day one.
Stephen: [11:27] Would you do it differently had you had to do it over again.
Dan: [11:30] No I think it is possible to get it to.
Dan: [11:34] It’s not possible to be completely outsourced from day one but there’s components to alert. But I think you can prepare yourself to outsource much more easily. And we didn’t do that so much. You know much more of an undertaking for us because we have to go lay the foundation for the processes and things like that because that’s the thing is whenever you’re trying to make a business to operate without you you just want consistency. Right. Because look you know as long as things are performed consistently you can change. You can change aspects and change your result. But you need that process to be predictable. So. That was. Something we had to really focus on. And you know it would have been much easier if we focused on the start. So you know in terms of our course you mentioned that the unteach that’s what we actually teach and of course every time we have on our business model we actually update our course of it.
Speaker 11: [12:29] So you learn something new. You
Stephen: [12:31] go out and you transfer that knowledge to your students. And let me qualify this right here because we’re going to give me a complaint. Dan is not paying me I’m not an affiliate of these guys and it’s just because I love these guys and I love what they do and I love how you help people sites want to say that upfront. I believe in what you do because I’ve seen the results. And to me if you can help others I just think it’s awesome and if people can buy time by buying your course regardless of what it cost it’s a deal right because you know I think about my master’s degree. How much money that cost. A lot a lot of money now it’s like three times the cost. Guess what. And time three years right. So that’s what you’ve got to pay for.
Stephen: [13:08] I’m sorry I want to inject that because somebody will comment about it. OK. So some thinking about what you’re what you’re doing yourselves to improve those key metrics so you get consistency and then you say OK let’s tweak this this is an almost like testing. And then when the results come in if it’s good. Great let’s embrace it let’s go all in. And and then transfer that knowledge and if it’s not is that kind of what you’re doing now at this point.
Dan: [13:34] Yeah absolutely. I mean that’s exactly what we’re doing at this point.
Stephen: [13:38] And so when you think about what your role is versus Eric’s role what’s different I mean you guys had distinct roles you were both complemented each other. Were you working in the business on the Amazon specific business and what is Eric working on in that hour or two hours whatever it is.
Speaker 12: [13:57] Eric him tend to work more with implementation whereas I work more on the design aspects of the business if that makes sense. And what I mean by design aspects is as a more problem solving. That’s the you know we’ve got some pretty. We’ve made some pretty drastic changes in how we operate and how we think about things. And a lot of that was the bill from these meetings and that’s that’s kind of