Got a really good one today with Kiri Masters. She is the founder of Bobsled Marketing. You’re not going to forget that name, it’s… hey, the Bobsled Team!

They are a marketing agency for Amazon sellers. They help businesses that sell on Amazon optimize their whole product funnels and “give them a push”, going with the bobsled metaphor.

We talk all about her journey from quitting her job to starting this consulting business just for herself, and within months, bringing on a few people. Now, 3 years in, she has a team of 21 people all running marketing services for Amazon sellers.

We talk about delegating, building systems and processes. We also touch on content marketing, involving her team and developing each personal’s brand as an holistic way of building trust with her clients.

As a bonus, we talk about selling a book on Amazon as a lead generation tool.

Lot of really good insights here from Kiri. Enjoy!

Episode Notes

[2:55] The story behind Bobsled’s name. What an agency focused on Amazon do. Working for free to gain experience and authority.

• “I was pretty resistant to Amazon for a long time ’cause I had this opinion that it was not a place for branded products.”
• “I decided to give a shot and I saw a dramatic increase in sales on Amazon fairly quickly.”
• “I told my first clients: if you don’t make money, we don’t make money, we are motivated to success.”

[13:03] How Kiri’s moved from a performance based fee to a monthly retainer. Experimenting with pricing and contracts.

[16:44] What the team looks like. On-boarding the very first employee. Planning for maternity leave.

• “A key milestone was promoting Julie to Operations Manager and planning for really not being available at all for 3 months. It was important to prove everyone that it was possible.”
• “I think that by trying to protect our company and do everything ourselves, we can be a little bit selfish. We should give people the opportunity to step up.”

[25:57] What happens after filling in the consultation form on Bobsled website. Coordination between sales and ops to offer a customized project. Difficulties to productize in the Amazon space.

[30:21] Bobsled’s content marketing secret. Developing team member’s personal brand.

[33:59] A book on Amazon as a lead generation tool.

• “It was very instrumental in building credibility for the company.”
• “You want to establish credibility. You are establishing that credibility through your company”

[39:45] Trends for 2018. Trust as the differentiation in a crowded market.

• “A lot of equity analysts are saying Amazon’s going to be the third competitor among Facebook and Google paid search.”
• “I anticipate pressures from both sides. And that is case in any growth industry.”

Links

• Kiri Masters on Twitter
• Kiri Masters’s company, Bobsled Marketing
• The Amazon Expansion Plan book by Kiri Masters
• The ECommerce BrainTrust Podcast
• I Like That Lamp
• Dynatime Circle
• Kiri on The Tropical MBA Podcast 1, 2, 3, 4
• Etsy
• Amazon
• Kickstarter
• Julie Spears
• Kat Boogaard on the Productize Podcast
• Sheryl Sandberg
• Scott Galloway from L2 Consulting
• Jordan Gal on the Bootstrapped Web podcast
• Rob Walling from Drip