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Selling on Amazon — How to get started? Books and eBooks

The topic of Amazon and the possibilities of selling your digital products on Amazon is becoming more and more popular. Why? Because Amazon allows you to sell virtually any products on the world’s most developed markets without having to move. You could sell on Amazon from Poland and you can sell your products abroad. Sounds cool? Amazon had its distribution centers, from where they sent your products to people who purchased them through the Amazon platform.

This blog post answers the following questions:

  1. What are the steps to publish a book on Amazon?
  2. How to start selling books and eBooks on Amazon?
  3. What are the benefits of selling books on Amazon?
  4. What challenges should be considered when selling on Amazon?
  5. What tips lead to success in selling books on Amazon?”

However, all this requires investment, work and overcoming many difficulties. I personally prefer to sell digital products on Amazon because it is a much less risky and easier solution. Do you want to know what products it is worth to sell on Amazon and how to do it? Continue reading.

Selling on Amazon — is it really that easy?

Of course not — selling on global markets through Amazon and business in general require a ton of work and a lot of knowledge. Selling your own products in the, for example European market, was a real pain in the neck and just a business that required a lot of hard work. I got hooked on Amazon a few years ago when I heard about this massive platform that allows you to sell worldwide. I wasn’t planning on selling cosmetics or TVs though, as it would have required a lot of investment and just didn’t float my boat. I decided to get into publishing and selling books on Amazon because the upfront investment didn’t have to be so big. Books are automatic products and are much more convenient to sell.

Selling books on Amazon?

Many people ask how exactly the process of creating a book/product in the form of a book on Amazon looks like.

  1. You have to get familiar with Amazon and the products on it.
  2. Find the right niche and pick a title/idea for the book.
  3. Have your book written, for example by hiring someone on upwork.com.
  4. Order a cover on fiverr.com.
  5. The resulting product upload through Kindle Direct Publishing (eBook, paperback book).
  6. Your book is available virtually worldwide after the verification process.
Selling on Amazon and an example book in both electronic and paper versions.
Selling on Amazon and an example book in both electronic and paper versions.

Of course, it’s not that simple and each of these steps requires a lot of work and skills. However, it is a much simpler process than releasing your electronic or paper product in Poland. And also, you’re opening to the market of the wealthiest countries in the world (mainly the USA), which mean you can count on an incredibly larger market than if you were to release your products only locally. When you publish books, you receive income as author, so you don’t even need a business entity for that.

Selling on Amazon — where is the catch?

Selling on Amazon requires a large amount of knowledge and regular work. You should not be afraid to invest in yourself and, above all, you should focus on spending a lot of products over time. You can’t hope to be making a cut after publishing one product. It doesn’t work this way. Making money and business is a process. Publishing more products (even the simplest ones) make you better, and success comes with time, and they will be getting bigger.

Fiverr and sample deals of sellers when ordering cover for your book
Fiverr and sample deals of sellers when ordering cover for your book

The “snowball effect” applies here — the more you publish, the more sales you generate. There are no shortcuts — I always tend to repeat this truth. My first two books were financial flaps. My third product on Amazon turned out to be a bestseller, and after more than a year in December 2017 I achieved sales of almost 1500 copies per month (eBooks, books and simple products in the form of books). It is said that quick success requires years of work and that is true. To make good money on Amazon you need knowledge, practice and often some failures, but this is the only way. However, you can do business wisely and take advantage of the scale effect, which means using technology and selling globally.

If you want to learn more about Amazon and online business, please sign up for my completely free course about THE BEST TYPES OF ONLINE BUSINESS. There I’m talking primarily about Amazon, book publishing and several other types of online business.

Selling on Amazon — How to get started? Books and eBooks — watch the video

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00:00:00,160 –> 00:00:03,114
Hi! I’m Tomek.
From Waiter To Millionaire.

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00:00:03,115 –> 00:00:08,514
Welcome. Today, I’ll tell you how to
release your first product on Amazon.

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00:00:08,515 –> 00:00:12,100
Would you like to find out more?
Watch this video.

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00:00:17,360 –> 00:00:19,071
I warmly welcome you.

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00:00:19,072 –> 00:00:23,143
Many questions are being asked
on my blog, YouTube channel

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00:00:23,144 –> 00:00:26,860
regarding releasing
a first product on Amazon.

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Why on Amazon?

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Because Amazon is becoming
more and more recognizable in Poland.

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It is said that Amazon
will finally be available in Poland.

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It’s already present in Poland
as we have their warehouses

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from where their products
are being shipped.

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I think that Amazon will be available
in Poland sooner or later.

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But why people
are fascinated with Amazon

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and why this subject is so hot right now?

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The answer is simple –
because Amazon offers

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not only the opportunity to buy,
but also the possibility of selling.

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Amazon offers us the opportunity
to sell products all over the world.

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It’s their strongest point, because
by releasing any product on Amazon –

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I’ll tell you
what kind of products in a sec –

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you reach for global markets.

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And that’s great, because
by releasing something simple,

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like a cosmetic, we can sell it
in Western Europe, in the UK, in the US,

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where the market
is much bigger, much richer.

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If you live in Poland,
sales in such markets

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brings much, much greater
opportunities and returns.

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That’s why it’s so fascinating and
many people are excited by it.

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Amazon is one of
the biggest companies in the world.

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It’s owner is one of the
richest people in the world.

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It is also obvious that every person
would like to be active on Amazon.

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And that’s what this video will be about.

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Many people asked me how to release
first products on Amazon.

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After a recent lecture at
the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań

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people asked me how to release
simple products, such as cosmetics,

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shutters, roller blinds, etc.

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I became interested in Amazon
2 years ago and I did my research.

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I think that I’ve achieved some success
and I can talk about it.

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I became interested in books.

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Of course, you can sell physical products,
like cosmetics, TV sets, etc.

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However, this business requires
a lot of investment.

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Of course, the investments are bigger,
if you want to sell on a larger scale.

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I’m a book fan and
an enthusiast of self-development,

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so I’ve become interested in
publishing books on Amazon,

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because I liked this topic
and also because publishing e-books

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paperbacks,
how-to books and so on

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doesn’t require
as great an investment as

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releasing more expensive
physical products

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and allows you to
start releasing with little money.

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You can have an easy start
and that’s why I chose this direction –

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publishing books, e-books, etc.

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And that’s why
I encourage you to do the same.

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How publishing books
or simple products on Amazon works?

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I’ll show you 6 steps on
how to release your first product

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in a form of a book on Amazon.

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Let’s find out what they are.

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First of all, in order to sell
anything on Amazon,

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whether a book, an e-book,
simple book, thick book, any big product,

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you need to learn how Amazon works.

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I always say that you should
begin your advanture with Amazon

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from getting to know Amazon well.

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In order to move to the next steps,
you need to spend many days,

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I think that even a few weeks,
you can buy something,

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spend a lot of time to learn about Amazon.

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Let’s talk about books here.

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If you want to publish
our book or guide, etc.,

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you need to spend a lot of time
browsing through products,

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categories, subcategories,
what sells well,

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how these books look like,
how the titles are written,

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how the descriptions are written, etc.

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All in order to know
how this market looks like.

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You can’t enter any market
without knowledge.

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You must be familiar with the market
and know what sells well.

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You need to know how such
a market works, what sells and what not.

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Every book, every product on Amazon
has a Best Sellers Rank.

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When you display an item,
you can see if this products sells.

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So, once you’ve done a proper research,
you know which categories are hot,

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which keywords are better than others,
which types of products sell better.

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That’s when you’re able to
move on to the second step –

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looking for a niche in which
you can place your product

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and coming up with
your own idea for the book,

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so that you can fit in this market
and release your own thing.

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Remember that looking for a niche
comes down to the first step

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and our idea will stem from
getting to know Amazon,

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as well as coming up with it
on the basis of the observation of

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some product,
a book or a how-to book.

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You don’t need to
create anything complex.

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You just need to find a niche.

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Often, it’s about releasing products
similar to the already existing ones.

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The next step is product commissioning.

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That is, if your product
will be a short guidebook

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or perhaps a longer book,
a cooking book,

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then Upwork.com
or various similar portals

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allow you to commission articles,
books or find freelancers.

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It’s relatively simple.

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You commission writing a book
or article. 30 pages is enough.

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Of course, it can be longer.

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And you commission
writing your book in English.

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That’s how you get
the content of this book.

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You provide a title – you can,
but don’t have to, provide chapters.

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There are people who write everything.

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Fiverr.com is the best place
to outsource such simple jobs.

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For 5, 10, 15 $
you can have a professional cover.

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You can also commission a description
for a product, buy a promotion, etc.

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There are various simple tasks
that you can buy.

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Of course, not only in the book category.

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Once you have the whole product
in the electronic form,

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you need to create free accounts on
Create Space and Kindle Direct Publishing.

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You can choose just one.

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Create Space is a portal where you upload
content, cover, description, etc.

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And then your book is available
as paperback on demand.

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You don’t have to do
anything more on Amazon.

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Kindle Direct Publishing is a portal
in which you upload book content,

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formatted cover, description and then
your book is available as an e-book

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on Kindle and the best way is to
publish the book through 2 channels.

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Create Space – print-on-demand book.
Kindle Direct Publishing – e-book.

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It depends on a book, but you usually
release on 2 platforms simultaneously.

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Once accepted by these platforms,
your book appears on Amazon.

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And if you use 2 platforms,
the book will appear on Amazon

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after the verification within
a few working days.

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So, you’ll have a paperback on one
sales page and an e-book on the other.

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You can also start from
publishing only e-book

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via Kindle Direct Publishing
and our book will be on Amazon.

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But it’s best to have it in both places,
because if a client

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finds our book on Amazon,
they can choose between

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e-book and paperback.

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And if your book, your product
passes the verification,

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which is not difficult,
if you know what you do,

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at this point your product
is available on most markets worldwide

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wherever Amazon operates.

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Amazon prints books,
sends them to people.

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If you buy e-book,
there’s no problem with shipping.

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At this point, your product reaches
the world markets.

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Whether cheap,
expensive, simple or complex one.

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You have access to a huge market.
That’s why Amazon is so fascinating.

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“So, where’s the catch?
It’s too perfect.

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Tomek, you’re talking about
incredible possibilities of Amazon”.

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Yes, the possibilities are incredible,
but remember that publishing on Amazon

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also requires a lot of knowledge,
a lot of work, etc.

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It’s very important
to start with simple products,

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not investing much money.

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It’s very important to release
products as cheaply as possible.

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So, you don’t commission
a long book.

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I always prefer simple products,
short guides, as they cost

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several dozen, 100-200 $,
to be able to handle the failure.

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You must be prepared for it,
especially at the start.

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The failures will always be there.

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But it’s worth to learn
and sell on a small scale at first.

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Publish simple products,
so that the failures won’t be painful.

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It requires a lot of work,
a lot of knowledge

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and releasing the first product
is the most difficult.

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It’s vital to think of
releasing products on Amazon

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not on the basis that you want to release
your first product

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to earn millions from it, but that
you release first products to learn.

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Of course, you may succeed
and earn a lot, but you may also fail.

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Don’t worry, it’s normal.

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But I wish your first products are great
and you earn as much as possible.

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However, you should think of it
on a long-term basis.

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You release first products
and later on you release the next ones.

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Having the knowledge and experience,
after a few months, a year

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you release better and better products
and that’s what you should focus on.

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Because I always say that sudden success
comes from years of work.

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OK, maybe it doesn’t take
years of work,

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but you need to learn,
gain experience, fail sometimes

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to release better and better
products in a better way.

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And at this point you’ll manage to
earn more and more on Amazon

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and be more and more successful.

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I encourage you to do this.

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If you’ve enjoyed this video,
be welcome to check out

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my free course – the link is below.

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I sincerely encourage you to use it.

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If you want to learn more on
self-improvement, Amazon and books,

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check out my other videos.

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I also encourage you to subscribe
and give a thumbs up.

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See you on YouTube.

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Thanks a lot.
I wish you all the best. Bye!

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