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👑 King of the Swamp 🐸

👑 King of the Swamp 🐸

July 24, 2023

Hi ,

One of the questions I get asked by Amazon sellers a lot is:

“When should I decide to kill a product?”

Well, let me tell you a short story. Why? Well, I like stories. You’re also reading your emails so I assume you’re not too busy. Maybe you are, but reading this email would help bring clarity to your business.

The story:

When I was in the army, I wasn’t sure if I want to become an officer. Being an officer means I need to go through another 6 months of training and serve for at least another 1.5 years (on top of the 3 mandatory years).

My direct officer, named Asi, was one of the most influential people in my life. He taught me how to be disciplined, how to stay organized, how to work effectively, and so much more. We got along really well.

I came to Asi’s office, and said that I’d made my decision - I want to go to training and become an officer.

Asi replied:

“You just want to be the king of the swamp.”

I had a confused look, and he continued:

“You see, you’re in the army right now, so you think about advancing in the army. It’s a swamp. You just want to be a king of it. As we grow, we need to have enough courage to jump from one swamp to the next. You’re not a good fit for the army, and can go on and do much bigger things.”

He then asked:

“Why do you want to be an officer?”

I said:

“I want to learn how to manage others, lead by example, and have more responsibilities.”

Asi then offered:

“Once your direct officer leaves, you could replace him. You would have a few soldiers reporting to you, so you’ll learn how to manage. You will have all of the responsibilities of an officer, but you won’t have to attend any of the unnecessary meetings.”

That was perfect, and that's what I did. At the end of my 3 mandatory years, I ended up staying for another 3 months until Asi left for a different position. They promoted me to be an officer without requiring me to take courses or undergo training. Although I wasn't officially an officer, I got a taste of being a leader and learned how to manage others.

Whatever you do in your life now, is a swamp. You always need to be aware if you really want to push and be the king of your existing swamp, or jump on to the next one.

I’ve realized that being the king of the swamp is not enough, because once you become the king of the swamp, you want to be the king of the entire forest.

When you launch a product on Amazon, it either works or it doesn't. You either keep pushing to get it to the top, or you don’t. You either keep at it, or you decide to jump to the next swamp.

Once you do get a product to the top, all you want is to do it again.

I see too many Amazon sellers jump onto the next swamp, instead of getting their first product the best it can be. This can be by:

Improving the listing so it’s better than everyone in the niche.
Testing different price points / coupons / deals.
Launching more variations.
Improving the product and overall customer experience.

The 4 points above are things you should always do. Too many sellers get comfortable after they get a small win, instead of keep getting better and better to stay a few steps ahead of their competition.

I also see many sellers not knowing when it’s time to let go and move over to another swamp. Killing a product is one of the toughest things in this business, but you need to be true to yourself and look at the numbers.

Here are a few indicators you should let go of a product:

You already have a great listing that you’ve tweaked and worked on multiple times.
You already tried many different price points. One of the things I tell many sellers to “jumpstart” their ranking and sales is - Cut the price and see if that helps.
There are too many sellers with great listings, with great reviews, not making money.
Prices in the niche have gone down drastically while PPC bids have gone up and the market is saturated.
Customers keep complaining and you keep getting negative reviews, no matter what you try.
New competitors have much better products than you and it’s not worth it to keep improving the product to go after them.

Go and be the king of the swamp,

Tomer