{"id":129,"date":"2017-03-03T07:50:17","date_gmt":"2017-03-03T15:50:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.freedombyamazon.com\/?p=129"},"modified":"2017-03-03T07:50:17","modified_gmt":"2017-03-03T15:50:17","slug":"swimming-the-amazon-river","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/freedombyamazon.com\/blog\/swimming-the-amazon-river\/","title":{"rendered":"Swimming the Amazon River"},"content":{"rendered":"

I don’t know how Amazon picked its name. But. they are the largest online retailer in the world, just like the Amazon River is the largest in the world.<\/p>\n

How did they get so big? Not overnight, that’s for sure. They started small and grew.<\/p>\n

That’s how any home-based business starts — small.<\/p>\n

In the beginning, it might seem hard to find something worth your time to buy and send in. Yes, it Will be hard at first. But you have to start somewhere, so start.<\/p>\n

The Amazon River starts way up in the Andes Mountains as a small trickle. Along the way, more trickles add to the flow. Some small streams, then larger streams merge in until it becomes that largest river in the world.<\/p>\n

Discouraged because the products you’re finding are only going to net you a dollar or two? Change your thinking.<\/p>\n

\n
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Think of each product as a trickle stream leading to a creek, then a small river, then a mighty one. Shoot for the 100% + ROI, but take the small streams of $1-5. Add another ASIN. The stream gets stronger. Add another, and another, and soon your trickles are adding together into a river – an Amazon River.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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I like <\/span>a video game<\/span><\/span> analogy. In a video game, at first you stumble around, learn the controls and strategies, but your scores suck. As you gain experience, your skills improve and you make it to the next level. The only difference is that in a video game, the levels get harder. <\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
With Amazon, it just gets easier.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Just beginning? Great! Find a product, and send it in. <\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
It won’t be that million-dollar best-seller, but it will sell. Learn the basics. Practice some more by finding another, then another. Set and work towards your “level” goals.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
What sort of level goals? How about something like this:<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
1. Find and send in a small quantity of ONE product.<\/div>\n
2. Send in another product.<\/div>\n
3. Achieve $100 sales in one month.<\/div>\n
4. Achieve $500 sales in one month.<\/div>\n
5. Achieve $1,00 sales in one month.<\/div>\n
6. Etc.<\/div>\n
\n
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\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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This is how most of the successful sellers did it. They all started with nothing. Depending on how much time they had, and how much energy they put into it, they grew at different rates. <\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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We started in 2013 with a couple hundred $ sales in that first month. Now, we work just a couple hours a day, and we did $260k last year. We’re old and disabled, so this pace suits us well. <\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Oh yeah. We just got back from a month-long vacation to Africa to visit our son and his family. And did $15k while we were gone. Yes, we were profitable <\/span>enough <\/span>that month to pay for most of the trip.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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You can do this. It will take time at first, but as you work and apply what you learn, you’ll be successful.To swim the river, you have to first jump in.
\n<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Don’t wait until you “know enough.” You will never know everything. <\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
You just have to start from where you are with what you know.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Best! John L<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I don’t know how Amazon picked its name. But. they are the largest online retailer in the world, just like the Amazon River is the largest in the world. How did they get so big? Not overnight, that’s for sure. They started small and grew. That’s how any home-based business starts — small. In the … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,20,14,21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-129","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-improving","category-multiple-streams","category-planning","category-success"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6aoKM-25","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":227,"url":"https:\/\/freedombyamazon.com\/blog\/keeping-track-of-time\/","url_meta":{"origin":129,"position":0},"title":"Keeping Track of Time","author":"John Larson","date":"July 5, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Websites referenced: TimeCamp: https:\/\/app.timecamp.com\/helper\/downloadJim Cockrum Coaching: https:\/\/www.jimcockrumcoaching.com\/Uline Shipping Supplies: http:\/\/www.uline.com I have had plenty of time interuptions in my lifetime. Lately, it seems it's gotten worse. Recently, the Covid pandemic threw our Amazon business for a loop. In March, 2020, Amazon began restricting FBA Inbound shipments to \"essential products\" only.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Improving"","block_context":{"text":"Improving","link":"https:\/\/freedombyamazon.com\/blog\/category\/improving\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":334,"url":"https:\/\/freedombyamazon.com\/blog\/my-send-to-amazon-wont-print-fnsku-labels\/","url_meta":{"origin":129,"position":1},"title":"My Send to Amazon Won’t Print FNSKU Labels","author":"John Larson","date":"March 6, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Amazon has both a SKU and an FNSKU data ID for each of your listings. The SKU is your free-form text you use to identify \"this\" listing. The FNSKU is Amazon's generated data for THEM to identify your item in their warehouse system. They are not interchangeable when referring to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Prepping"","block_context":{"text":"Prepping","link":"https:\/\/freedombyamazon.com\/blog\/category\/prepping\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":150,"url":"https:\/\/freedombyamazon.com\/blog\/list-it-get-your-purchase-on-the-shelf\/","url_meta":{"origin":129,"position":2},"title":"List It! Get Your Purchase “On the Shelf”!","author":"John Larson","date":"July 7, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"From the 3 \"Success\" rules, we've covered Finding It. Now, it's time to List It! If the product is already available on Amazon, Listing it is a simple matter of adding your products to the existing Catalog listing. You can do this from inside the Amazon Seller free app on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Listing"","block_context":{"text":"Listing","link":"https:\/\/freedombyamazon.com\/blog\/category\/listing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":236,"url":"https:\/\/freedombyamazon.com\/blog\/amazons-virtual-bundle-for-fba\/","url_meta":{"origin":129,"position":3},"title":"Amazon’s Virtual Bundle for Brand Registry FBA","author":"John Larson","date":"November 16, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"A few months ago, Amazon announced a new feature for Brand Registry FBA Sellers: Virtual Bundles. I've known about them since then, but only recently took at a look for a client. Virtual Bundles really look useful for those of us with several ASINs in FBA that look to be\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Improving"","block_context":{"text":"Improving","link":"https:\/\/freedombyamazon.com\/blog\/category\/improving\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":316,"url":"https:\/\/freedombyamazon.com\/blog\/amazons-send-to-amazon-work-flow\/","url_meta":{"origin":129,"position":4},"title":"Amazon’s “Send to Amazon” Work Flow","author":"John Larson","date":"December 23, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"In 2022, Amazon implemented a mandatory change to the FBA shipment process. They call it Send to Amazon, and claim it makes the FBA shipment process easier. Well, according to many, it isn't easy -- At All. It is Soooo Confusing! The truth is, it is a change, and change\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Processes"","block_context":{"text":"Processes","link":"https:\/\/freedombyamazon.com\/blog\/category\/processes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":213,"url":"https:\/\/freedombyamazon.com\/blog\/covid-19-and-amazon-fba-shutdown\/","url_meta":{"origin":129,"position":5},"title":"Covid-19 and Amazon FBA Shutdown","author":"John Larson","date":"March 17, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"We've all been dealing with the Wuhan Virus in various ways. I hope you are all in good health. Sandi and I are hunkered down on the farm and limiting our travels and shopping. We were content to rely on Amazon FBA to supplement income, reduced, maybe, but steady. To\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/freedombyamazon.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/freedombyamazon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/freedombyamazon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/freedombyamazon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freedombyamazon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freedombyamazon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=129"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/freedombyamazon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":130,"href":"https:\/\/freedombyamazon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129\/revisions\/130"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/freedombyamazon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=129"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freedombyamazon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=129"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freedombyamazon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=129"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}